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Roundup: Turkey shelters 1.9 million Syrian refugees

Xinhua, September 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

Over 4 million refugees fled Syria since the war started in 2011 with neighboring Turkey hosting about 1.9 million refugees, according to the latest data from the UN refugee agency.

The Turkish government said that refugee camps are at full capacity in various provinces with a total of 260,209 refugees.

However, Syrian refugees try to reach Europe by sea daily, and frequently most of them drown.

According to data released by the Turkish Coast Guard Command, the number of immigrants using Turkey as a transit route exceeds 70,000.

Last week, the Turkish government said its coastguard rescued over 42,000 migrants in the Aegean Sea since 2012.

Numbers of rescued refugees are expected to exceed 70,000 by the end of 2015.

Selin Unal, spokeswoman for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in Turkey, told Xinhua that deception amongst refugees is a big issue which benefits smugglers.

"For five years, Turkey provided a typical life to Syrian asylum seekers. They get professional health services, continue their education, and also enroll in language courses.

However, despair and deception drives people to believe in the smugglers as the refugees want to reach European countries for a better future," she said.

Unal noted that European countries must provide legal service to refugees with international cooperation.

The Turkish government supported Syrians with billions of dollars over the past five years. Yet, their situation is still uncertain.

When Syrians first entered Turkey in 2011, they were considered "guests."

However, since November 2011, the Turkish government changed direction providing Syrians only temporary protection status.

Without the legal status of a refugee, they can be sent back to their war-torn homeland.

Human rights activists indicated that many refugees lack shelter, and that temporary protection status prevents Syrians from easily getting hired in Turkey.

Piril Ercoban, from the Association for Solidarity with Refugees, said Turkey provides a peaceful and safe environment for Syrians. However, there is no permanent solution for them and their future is unclear in Turkey.

"In Turkey, refugees have to work low paying jobs, illegally. Sometimes they do not get paid. Children work as well to help their families, hence they do not continue their education," added Ercoban.

Yavuz Gucturk, researcher at the Foundation for Political, Economic and Social Research (SETA), said that refugees want to go to European countries and claim refugee status from countries like Sweden and Holland.

He also noted that there is no integration law in Turkey. "Turkey has to constitute a legal infrastructure immediately, because some Syrians will never return to war-torn Syria and will stay in Turkey. Therefore, Turkey has to establish integration laws before social conflicts appear."

IMEAK Sea Chamber of Commerce CEO, Metin Kalkavan, said Syrian refugees immigrate to survive their country's civil war, lending a different interpretation compared to other migrations. Enditem