An Examination of the Activities of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Migrant Worker Health Centre Within the Scope of Local Governments’ Policies Towards Migrants

Migration management has been one of the most important issues in Turkish public administration and politics for the last 10 years. The aim of this study prepared within this framework is to examine the aims and activities of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Migrant Worker Health Centre. The methodology is the analysis of the data obtained from Istanbul Migrant Worker Health Centre. The fact that the Migrant Worker Health Centre has not been evaluated in the articles and books that deal with the activities of local governments towards migrants in general and the activities of Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality towards migrants in particular, reveals the importance of the study. Although migration management is basically within the jurisdiction and authority of the central government, it also concerns local governments in many aspects. Municipalities, which operate to meet the local common needs of the people, cannot be expected to remain unresponsive to the demands and needs of migrants. In this framework, it is seen that municipalities, especially in provinces with dense immigrant populations, make efforts to meet the urban needs of immigrants, especially social policies, and to integrate the incoming population. In this study, the purpose, activities and the place of the Migrant Worker Health Centre, which was established in 2021 by Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality under the Directorate of Occupational Health and Safety within the Health Department, in the policies of local governments towards migrants are examined. Istanbul is the city with the highest number of migrants in Turkey. Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Migrant Worker Health Centre was established to produce policies to reduce the damage caused by the employment of migrants to the employer-employee relationship. It is important for people who do not have Turkish citizenship but are in Turkey to have information about Turkish business life and dynamics, Occupational Health and Safety Law and Labour Law. The Centre focuses on issues such as preventing forced labour of migrant workers regardless of their status, preventing child labour, protecting the bodily integrity of workers and caring for their lives, preventing harassment, and ending brutal exploitation. When the purpose and activities of the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality Migrant Workers’ Health Centre are evaluated in general, it is seen that it is different from the activities of other local government units across the country towards migrants, and that it is not only limited to protecting the occupational health and safety of migrants, but also aims to prevent competition in labour-employer relations to the detriment of Turkish workers.