A report prepared by the Turkish aid group, Development Workshop, indicates that Syrian refugees living in south-east Turkey are facing problems in accessing basic needs and that children are particularly affected. Furthermore, it was also found that the refugees have to deal with hate speech and crimes being committed against them.
The authors of the report based their conclusions on an investigation conducted amongst refugees and semi-nomadic migrant workers living in provisional camps in Adana, Gaziantep, and Sanliurfa provinces.
The publication reveals that members of these communities live in very poor conditions, having only one room or one tent where they sleep mostly on the soil. Very few children go to primary or secondary schools. Moreover, there is no safe space for them to play or develop because their surroundings leave them exposed to potential injuries.
Some of the refugees living in south-east Turkey have temporary protection status which means that they have access to aid and that their basic needs such as water, food, and access to healthcare are met although they remain exposed to food insecurity. Whilst they also have access to education and work permits, according to Turkish law refugees cannot however be offered resettlement.
The Turkish experts who published the report called for more effort to be made to support Syrian communities living in the provisional camps and to provide them with access to education as well as meeting their basic needs. It is estimated that Turkey is home to 3.6 million Syrian refugees who fled their homeland because of the ongoing violent military conflict there.
Sadly, the Development Workshop experts also stated that Syrian refugees are affected not only by a lack of food, water, and accommodation but also by the hate speech and crimes committed against them which stem from prejudices due to negative stereotypes generated by the Turkish media. Six refugees were murdered in Turkey – three of whom were under 18 years old – in just one month this year, between July 15 and August 23. Turkish citizens are convinced that Syrians will take away their jobs even though the refugees have practically no rights as workers and, if they do find employment, this is often in terrible conditions.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the global number of people who have been forced to leave their country because of conflicts and humanitarian crises is the highest since World War II. UNHCR estimates that about 6.6 million Syrians have fled abroad with most looking for shelter in Turkey but some also fleeing to Lebanon and Jordan. The second-largest group of refugees are Venezuelans with the UN estimating that about 5.1 million people have left this country because of extreme poverty.
Turkey took Syrian refugees to prevent them from entering EU countries through its eastern borders with Greece and Bulgaria. The EU pays Ankara about €6 billion to support Syrians living in Turkey and to prevent them from crossing EU borders.
