What happened with the Syrian refugees? #1 The situation in Turkey

[nairiporter]

Nine years ago, as the mass protests in Syria were gradually entering the bloody stage of the civil war there, hundreds of thousands started fleeing from the violence of their own government. As new rebel groups appeared and the scope of the military operations expanded, their number more than doubled. After 2014, with the emergence of Daesh, their numbers had reached into the millions, and the actions of the jihadists only further exasperated the humanitarian catastrophe.

This brought waves of refugees upon the European borders in 2015 and 2016, and the resulting rise of right-wing reactionary factions, some of them managing to make political inroads in their countries, and even winning elections on the promise they would protect their people from "terrorists disguised as refugees". Doubtless, the Syrian civil war is the heaviest conflict of our time, and the resulting refugee and humanitarian crisis caused by all the violence and destruction are one of the most serious challenges to the international community. Although the focus somehow mostly falls on the refugees heading to Europe, the bulk of the masses fleeing from war-torn Syria actually went to neighbouring countries: Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey.

Now 9 years later, what is the status of the Syrian refugees? It seems we "kind of" forgot about them, what with the Coronavirus pandemic and all those other things going on. One of the latest developments on that front is that Turkey has shown how complicated and bureaucratic their situation has become. The Syrian teachers now residing in Turkey for example requested an improvement of their working conditions so they could keep in pace with the local education system. But it is unclear if that request could be granted. Their salaries are being paid by UNICEF, and since they are not officially recognised by Turkey, they are supposed to refer to the Syrian National Council, the Istanbul-based Syrian opposition coalition. But the council itself cannot help them much, since it is not authorised with managing the Syrian refugees in Turkey. Thus, the teachers have to find their own ways of carrying on with what they have, namely an average salary of 292 dollars. And that is much less than the local salaries in Turkey.

There are currently over 3.5 million refugees in Turkey. Most are from Syria, but not all are officially registered by UN's agencies, and not all of them receive humanitarian aid. Many are working at the black market, with no insurance or social benefits. And only a few tens of thousands have had the luck to receive work permits. There are some who have received Turkish citizenship, but that is mostly an exception. To mitigate the situation, the Turkish government unofficially allows Syrians to work not just in the border regions but also in the large cities like Istanbul and Izmir.

At the time the Syrian refugees started flocking into Turkey in the early stages of the civil war (2012-2013), the government opened 55 centers for Arab studies, based on the Syrian education system, and many teachers went to work there. Others went working at Turkish schools that had Arab classes. A few years later, Turkey decided to integrate the Syrian children into the Turkish schools, and started shutting down those centers. Earlier this year, the last of them closed doors, leaving the Syrian teachers with no secure jobs. Some have opted for transferring to the Turkish education system.

There are about 80 thousand Syrian children who visit Turkish schools for free, and Turkey has offered their teachers to pass a special training so they could be permanently hired. But that's a long and thorny road, whose results will become evident in a year or two, or maybe more. The training continues for two years, during which time the teachers have to learn Turkish, and get acquainted with the basics of Turkish education. It's possible that many of these new teachers would be sent to remote regions with a shortage of teachers, but that means they would be separated from their families.

Despite these difficulties, Turkey's policy to the refugees could generally be considered a successful example. The camps in Turkey are much better provided for than those in Lebanon and Jordan. Many Syrians have started small businesses, which, combined with international aid, has brought Turkey some revenue. It is believed the Turkish government has spent about 25 billion dollars on supporting the refugees up to this point.

In recent years, though, supporters of the main opposition parties in Turkey have used this data to criticise the refugee policy, often resorting to spreading fake news and claims about rising unemployment in the country, and Syrians "stealing our jobs". This has resulted in pogroms on shops owned by Syrians in Istanbul, and the new city mayor has openly called for policy overhaul.

As the shift of public opinion is beginning to sting, Erdogan is considering a different approach now: creating so called "security zones" where up to a million Syrians would be returned. These areas are supposed to be set up in North Syria, and they've been determined after negotiations with Russia, whose forces are still supporting Assad. The establishment of these zones has given Erdogan the green light to expand his military presence in North and North-West Syria as part of his campaign against the Kurds.

to be continued...