GIS-based fuzzy MCDA approach for siting refugee camp: A case study for southeastern Turkey

After domestic turbulence in Syria on 2011, many Syrian refugees have migrated to Turkey in progressive amounts. Turkey provides temporary protection for these refugees both in and out of refugee camps. Approximately 10% of the refugees stay at the refugee camps according to statistics of Ministry of Interior Directorate General of Migration Management. These events reveal the need for additional refugee camps. In this shift from emergency to stable phase, scientific based selection and design methods are beneficial for the situation. Thus, a three-step solution approach is developed. Firstly, various geographic, social, infrastructural and risk related criteria are determined for 10 southeastern cities in Turkey which are very close to Syrian border. Secondly, these criteria are entered into geographic information system (GIS) software to assign a refugee camp siting availability score. Lastly, indicators are prioritized using fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (FAHP) and potential refugee camp sites are ranked using technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). As a result, 15 new refugee camp sites are offered considering the pre-determined indicators. The model definitely shows that suggested alternative camp locations are more suitable than the current camps. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.