‘The reason behind poverty is not refugees,' says rights group

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA)

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Amid escalating violations of rights and attacks against refugees in Turkey, the World is Our Home International Solidarity Association has released a statement and underlined that the living conditions of refugees have become worse with the COVID-19 pandemic measures and their access to rights and services has been restricted by economic crisis and rising racism.

In its written statement, the association has referred to the attacks on refugees in Ankara's Pursaklar, İstanbul's Esenyurt and Nevşehir's city center and noted that what happened in these places "gives an idea that this situation will continue or even take a more grave turn in 2022."

The statement has stressed that refugees' rights, especially their right to life, are violated, adding: "The reason behind poverty, which we have begun to experience highly severely, is not refugees."

The association has noted that "today, refugees are the ones who work for wages that are incomparable to their labor and they mostly work unregistered and in conditions where one cannot talk about any occupational safety or human dignity." Referring to their living conditions as well, it has said, "They lead their lives in the poorest neighborhoods of cities or rural areas far away from their families and isolated from society."

"The number of refugees living in Turkey is even higher than the populations of some countries in Europe and this existence is extremely social as a reality where the people of the country live together in several shared environments such as streets, workplaces, neighborhoods and schools," the association has said, concluding its statement in following words:

The loss of rights faced by refugees interests all members of the society and it means their own aggrievement at the end of the day. For this very reason, refugees must be saved from the grip of deepening poverty and rising racism.

CLICK - 'We are concerned that attacks on refugees may continue'

(AS/SD)