Refugee woman says she was attacked by neighbors, insulted by police

"Stop hate attacks on refugees" (Photo: İHD İstanbul)

Click to read the article in Turkish / Kurdish 

F.A.S., a woman refugee who has been living in İstanbul for four months, has said that she was subjected to verbal and physical violence from her neighbors, Mesopotamia Agency (MA) reported.

Her neighbors threatened to kill her and her children, F.A.S. said yesterday (October 13) at a press conference at the Human Rights Association (İHD) İstanbul Branch. They were subjected to racist and discriminatory treatment, she added.

İHD İstanbul Chair Gülseren Yoleri said, "Unfortunately, the necessary efforts to ensure that refugees have the right to have a humane life are not there."

"Many political parties are trying to gather votes with discriminatory discourse. This process causes the violation of every kind of right of refugees, including the right to life," she added.

Talking about what she had experienced in Arabic, F.A.S. said, she was physically attacked by a neighbor on September 1 and other neighbors joined these attacks later.

"At the police station, they didn't receive my complaint for a long time. They kept me waiting. While the complaint was being received, an officer shouted and insulted me. At the police station, I was treated as if I was a criminal at.

"The attacks increased after I went to the police station and filed a complaint. I'm constantly being threatened. I have three children and the oldest of them is 11 years old. So, my children are affected from this incident more because they are minors. I'm calling for legal and medical needs. We need the support of society to prevent these attacks." (KÖ/VK)