‘47.5 percent of Syrians in Turkey are children’

* A photo by Anadolu Agency (AA)

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish

The Human Rights Association (İHD) İstanbul Branch has shared the findings of its "Report on Violations of Rights Against Refugees in 2020".

Raising concerns about the rising racism, violence and poverty all across the world, the report has underlined that "the violations of rights targeting refugees have also been increasing in parallel with this."

"As the states tend to drift away from rights-based approaches, it has become more difficult to solve the problems causing these violations."

"Everyone knows that the dense population of refugees in countries such as Turkey, which cannot tackle their own problems and crises, are alone with their problems," the report has noted and added:

"As of January 13, 2021, the number of Syrians under temporary protection in Turkey were 3 million 645 thousand 557 people. In addition, it is estimated that there are 400 thousand registered refugees from other countries and around 1 million unregistered refugees.

Children and women

"1 million 732 thousand 44 of the Syrian population in Turkey, accounting for 47.5 percent, are children at the ages of 0-18. The total number of children at the ages of 0-18 and women is 2 million 583 thousand 373, which accounts for 70.9 percent of their entire population.

"As of January 13, 2021, the number of Syrians living in camps was 58 thousand 752. This gradually decreasing number was 143 thousand 558 in early 2019 and 228 thousand 251 in early 2018.

"Today, only 1.6 percent of Syrians live in camps. The number of Syrians living in cities is 3 million 585 thousand 17."

Applications from citizens of 27 countries

"Considered in terms of the number of applications, the İHD received applications from the citizens of the following 27 countries respectively: Syria, Pakistan, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Morocco, Palestine, Bangladesh, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Gambia, Congo, Cameroon, Russia, China, Turkmenistan, Algeria, Jordan, Tunisia, India, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Venezuela, Germany , Sweden and Turkey.

"The most frequently complained issues were as follows:

"Requests for international protection, violations of non-refoulement, seeking asylum in Turkey, torture and ill treatment, poor conditions in removal centers, missing people, seizures of temporary protection IDs, rejections of citizenship applications, violations of right to residence-based education, violations of right to medical treatment due to a failure to renew the ID, threats of deportation, unjustified deportations or decisions of administrative supervision, unemployment, poverty and inability to benefit from public assistance, violations of right of travel, violence, threat, sexual abuse, violations of right to work, unpaid wages."

(DŞ/SD)

* Click here to read the full report (in Turkish)