Syrian Refugees in Turkey

CL4D ISTANBUL WORKSHOP 2015Team # 2

1.6 million Syrian refugees brace for brutal winter in TurkeySpeaking to Sunday's Zaman

on the phone, Yasemine, the director of a charity group called “Help the Syrians in İstanbul,” drew attention to the fact that many refugees crossed the border in late September. “It was still summer and they ran for their lives in summer clothes. Now, the conditions have changed and winter has come. What we see is that those people have almost nothing to wear and are trying to survive under really [harsh] conditions,” Yasemine said.

Background on the field visit• Having set our minds on the refugee population in Istanbul we wondered how

to find some of the Syrian refugees , but there were no refugees around in “Sisli” • We used the sub-way to go to the “golden horn” on the recommendation of

our where our local consultants• At the station in GH we saw a couple couple of Syrian children and followed

them out.• And soon enough we were surrounded by a dozen more including their

parents.• We asked permission to interview them and they agreed but declined to

have their faces photographed

Current Situation : Refugees Story • 50,000 refugees in one neighborhood –”Golden horn

district”• They are mostly in low-medium income districts “police

threw them away from more affluent districts”• They pay for their living “in sub-standard rental

housing”, 50 TL monthly• They have no support from the Turkish government• 15 person live in one room, where there is no access to

water or toilets , they said “we have a shower once in two months in mosques”

• Children used to go to school back in Syria, but they don’t now

• They usually have no access to work, few can join some jobs based on their connections and skills

• How they perceive Government Vs. Community• They feel negatively towards the government, for

these reasons:1. They claim government receives money “funds”

from international organizations for refugees assistance but does nothing for the refuges who are not in camps

2. They have national special IDs, but they still perceive that negatively, claiming that There IDs is for voting purpose, “Political Purpose” as their votes are being manipulated by government.

3. They claim Political regime of turkey supports Syrian conflict.

• They feel positively towards the community:1. They like the way the community helps them with

their situation.

PERCEPTIONS : AUTHORITIES Vs. COMMUNITY

Current Situation : Citizens Story • “We don’t fight with them in our daily lives. We do not hate each

other. However, I think our conflict is at the government level. When they couldn’t find legal jobs or proper shelter for themselves, they become a security issue for us. They work in low paid jobs. While Turkish workers are often jobless. They are taking our jobs away ”

Root causes and Challenges• There are challenges at various levels• The Government accepted 1.6 million refugees since 2011. - limited capacity

of institutions to absorb this number• Lack of livelihoods for refugees• Half of the refugees are children: schooling, social support and housing is a

must• Possible radicalization of refugee situation• How to bring together global stakeholders and leadership principles to

address these challenges

Recommendation• Organize Instanbul-based charities to start a broad stakeholder

mobilization to provide basic services that don’t require huge financial investments, such as• Religious organizations – to provide access to showers at least on a weekly

basis for families• Community based organizations – to provide extra curricular activities /

support to learning efforts for refugee children, so that they learn the language and are able to join regular schools• Local government – engage in forming a training center to develop

employment skills of refugee population