Feature: Syrian refugee children dig in for living in Turkey

Some Syrian refugee children aged 7-10 have been busy earning a living among the crowd of the Istiklal Street in Turkey's Istanbul by selling boxes of Kleenex during the working hours.

People, mostly tourists passed by paying little or no attention to the children's mumbling words that made no sense. They were begging in Arabic or trying to sell few boxes of Kleenex with their little Turkish.

"We came to Turkey two years ago since then I have been selling Kleenex on the streets," said 12-year-old Hassan. Hassan's father and brother sell prayer beads to meet the expenses of the family.

There are now more than two million Syrian refugees in Turkey with only 200,000 living in official camps.

In Istanbul, the situation is getting worse as their number exceed 300,000.

Their struggle to survive grows as their hope to soon return home fades away. The number of children begging for a few Turkish liras per day has been doubling each day.

Children miss their homes the most while their dream about the future combines around one ideal: to go to school.

"I miss the piece of land of Syria the most. One's country is one's life. One day I will go back," said Hassan optimistically.

However his smiling face has been soured when asked about his schooling.

"Who in the earth will bring schools to us?" asked Hassan while adding that he has only one dream about the future. "I just want to have my education no matter which job I will choose," he said.

Ten-year-old Mohammad also said that he definitely wants to go to school to work in a hospital. Shortly after, he added that he also wants to work as car mechanic or something like that."

Mohammad makes five to eight U.S. dollars a day by selling Kleenex or by begging. He and six others including his parents and cousins are living in an empty room of a shop. The money he makes on the street meets the half of the rent. He can also give some money to his mother.

In the meantime, the life in Istiklal Street has been rushing fast. Far from the madding crowd another small Syrian boy was sitting on the street with a small money box in front. Inside the box one coin was leaping to the eye. He seemed depressed.

His name was Hannan and he is 10 years old. "I want to go to school in Syria. I want to be a worker in the future. Nothing but a worker," he said.

As their number has been increasing, the concerns among Turks towards them have also been raised.

Oytun Orhan, an analyst at the Centre for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies, pointed out that at the beginning, when Syrians first crossed the border, Turks were hospitable.

However, the assumption which stated that one day they would return home has been fading away, he said.

"Now it has been more than four years and their numbers have been increasing each day and the concerns among the public have been augmented," he added.

Orhan argued that there should be efforts toward the integration of the Syrian people with Turkish society.

According to him, in order to merge Syrian children with Turkish society, they should be taught Turkish and take their education in Turkish schools.

The reactions of Turkish people on the street have reflected the growing concerns among society.

"I encounter 30 to 40 Syrian children beggars on my way to the office from my home each morning," said Umit Okyay Aymelek.

"You give money to one, food to another but at some point you congest," he pointed out, adding that he does not find Turkey's policy healthy. "If you let them in you have to look after them," he said.

One of his main concerns is the fact that there is no hope in the near future for the Syrian refugees to return their home. "What will happen when those children grow on the streets? The girls will be forced to be prostitutes and the boys would most probably involve in violence," he said.

Asiye Akbas, a Turkish housewife in her 50s, urged government authorities to find immediate solution to the Syrian children living on streets.

"The situation is getting worse each day. We see them trying to get warm under the exhaust pipe of the cars. It is getting dangerous in some of the cities. The violence ratio keeps increasing. Turks do not want them, they exclude them," she said.

Pinar Uyan, an academician in Bilgi University's International Relations Department, said that in order to overcome the problems between Turks and Syrians, it is vital to understand what the Syrians have been experiencing.

"In that context the government and the media should work hard to create a positive perception towards Syrians," she said. Endit