Türkiye is gearing up to launch a comprehensive plan dubbed the "Aleppo model" to repatriate Syrian refugees to their homeland and return illegal migrants, according to the Turkish newspaper Sabah.

As part of a scheme to eliminate any problems regarding the refugee population, as well as irregular migration, in the country, President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party), its governing committee and the Interior Ministry have formed a trilateral mechanism to take swift action and legal steps, a report in Sabah said.

Türkiye has been home to some 3.7 million Syrians who fled persecution and brutality in their country when the civil war broke out in 2011 after the Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity. A decade of fighting has left at least half a million Syrians dead and more than 14 million in need of humanitarian aid.

In the country’s north, Ankara helped Assad’s opposition sustain moderate ground against regime forces while starting in 2016, Turkish counterterrorism operations Euphrates Shield, Olive Branch and Spring Shield liberated swathes of territory from terrorist groups like the PKK and its U.S.-backed Syrian branch, the YPG, and enabled the safe resettlement of civilians.

Some 554,000 Syrians have so far returned from Türkiye to the region now improved with new schools, hospitals, organized industrial sites and better infrastructure. Returns have also increased following the twin earthquakes that left over 56,000 dead combined in southern Türkiye and northern Syria.

More than 6 million Syrians now live in nearly 107,000 briquette homes erected in Afrin.

Priorities under the Aleppo model include solving housing and unemployment in the war-torn country.

Türkiye has already joined forces with Qatar to build some fully equipped 240,000 homes across Idlib and Afrin regions over the next three years. The joint "Voluntary, Safe, Honorable Return Project" broke ground in May in Jarablus, a city belonging to Aleppo just south of the Turkish border.

In addition to residences, the project will include agricultural plots, commercial facilities, production and industrial areas, and all social equipment from education to health care, authorities said.

Employers in southern Turkish provinces bordering Syria are also eager to open businesses in their neighboring country, starting in safe zones, which will boost the commercial scene and create jobs for the region’s locals.

The primary focus, however, is implementing the model in Aleppo, for which Ankara is currently in talks with Damascus and Moscow.

Turkish officials previously informed the process of an organized return, not just to the border area but across Syria, has already been a part of discussions with Syria. Russia, along with Iran, has been party to the Syrian crisis by militarily backing Assad but the pair has also been working to help ease the thaw between Ankara and the Assad regime in recent years.

Upcoming talks with Damascus and Moscow will focus on reviving social and economic life by centering Aleppo, whose rejuvenation could ensure the return of hundreds of Syrians.

Additionally, Türkiye is also a vocal backer of the U.N. Security Council resolution calling for a political solution to the Syrian crisis.

Assad’s insistence on ignoring the political method, however, still poses a major problem for the return of his citizens.

In May, the U.N.’s envoy to Syria said some Syrians intended to return within the next year due to a lack of job opportunities and other reasons, including safety, in the countries they are seeking asylum, like Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and Egypt.

Erdoğan often underscores the importance of adopting a "humane, conscientious and Islamic" aspect to the repatriation efforts, that Türkiye cannot send back Syrians "by using force."

Irregular migration

Simultaneously, the government plans to take action against irregular migration. Ankara has been tending to its relations with countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan from where the flow of illegal crossings has seen a surge in recent years. While deporting irregular migrants back to their countries, Turkish authorities have been using national airlines in a bid to support host countries.

Another measure will be following the example of the European Union for visitors who arrive in Türkiye with a 90-day visa which they then want to extend. These persons will be asked to provide bank account and income information, as well as documents like title deeds and health insurance. If such documents aren’t supplied, the applicants will not be granted a visa or a permit of residence.

In the meantime, the Labor and Social Security Ministry will be cracking down on the employment of illegal workers. It will also release a roadmap for foreign workers, according to which businesses employing foreigners will be required to receive training, reminded of regulations and taught under which conditions foreigners can be employed.

Türkiye, home to a total of 4,893,752 foreigners, has seen a significant decline in immigration in 2022, an annual migration report revealed last month.

The number of immigrants fell by 33.2% year-over-year to 494,052 people, most of whom were Russian citizens, marking a stark change in the nationalities of immigrants and emigrants arriving in the country.

Ankara views "international injustice" as the leading cause of irregular migration. Turkish officials say improving conditions in the countries where illegal migrants hail from is necessary, along with the need for voluntary returns in line with international standards for intercepted irregular migrants.

Türkiye sees the issue as something which needs international cooperation and seeks to establish bilateral, regional and international groups to ensure the cooperation.

Also in July, it joined more than 20 nations and international organizations to launch the "Rome Process" to prevent and tackle irregular migration and human trafficking.

In early August, Türkiye joined forces with the United Kingdom to slow the flow of irregular migrants passing through its territory on their way to Europe. A new operational center consisting of Turkish and British police will cooperate in sharing customs data, information and intelligence, people and technology to disrupt and dismantle human trafficking gangs and the manufacture and supply of materials, which enable small boat crossings.