• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

AS/M IG /A HLARG (2011) 04 REV 29 November 2011 amahlarg04_201 rev Or. French Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population Ad Hoc Sub-Committee on the Large-scale Arrival of Irregular Migrants, Asylum- seekers and Refugees on Europe’s Southern Shores Syrian refugees on the Turkish border Report on the visit to Antakya (Turkey) (26 July 2011) I. Introduction 1. Since 15 March 2011 a wave of protest has broken out against the current government in Syria. Although little information is coming out of the country, which is closed to foreign media, there is no doubt that the crackdown has been deadly. According to the United Nations, it has already cost the lives of over 4500 people. 2. From late April 2011, when the instability reached the border areas between Syria and Turkey, thousands of Syrians began fleeing their country to seek refuge in the Turkish province of Hatay. 3. At the invitation of the Turkish delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly, the Ad Hoc Sub- Committee of the Committee on Migration, Refugees and Population 1 decided to visit the area to observe the situation, since it is the Ad Hoc Sub-Committee’s purpose to establish constructive dialogue and a 1 The Ad Hoc Sub-Committee consists of one representative from each of the Assembly’s five political groups. F – 67075 Strasbourg Cedex | E-mail: [email protected] | Tel: + 33 3 88 41 2341 | Fax: +33 3 88 41 2797 Les documents sont diffusés sur le site web extranet de l’APCE (accès réservé aux délégations) dès qu’ils sont disponibles / Documents can be found on the PACE extranet web site (restricted area for delegations) as available: http://assembly.coe.int/extranet AS/Mig/AhLarg (2011) 04 relationship of trust with the authorities of Council of Europe member states in southern Europe faced with mixed migration flows at their borders. 2 4. The members of the Ad Hoc Sub-Committee would like to thank the Turkish authorities for their assistance and cooperation in organising the visit. They had an opportunity to meet the persons involved in managing arrivals of Syrians in the Hatay area and talk at length with a number of refugees acommodated in the Altýnözü Boynuyo ğun and Yaylada ğý camps. However, the members of the Ad Hoc Sub-Committee regret that their visit to the refugee camps was confined to the outskirts, since the Turkish authorities refused the delegation permission to enter the camps, citing the safety and privacy of the camps’ residents. II. A fast and generous response from Turkey on humanitarian grounds 5. As was pointed out during the meeting between Ad Hoc Sub-Committee members and the deputy governor of Hatay province, Turkey has a long history of receiving refugees and displaced/expelled persons that dates back to the Ottoman Empire. 6. Once again, faced by the arrival of large numbers of people fleeing neighbouring Syria, Turkey has shown its capacity to receive them, offering sanctuary in the province of Hatay to some 20,000 people. 7. As soon as the first refugees started arriving from Syria, Turkey made it clear that its borders would remain open and that it would offer sanctuary to any person wanting it. Although initially describing the events in Syria as simply distressing, the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tyyip Erdogan subsequently began to take a firmer stance, going so far as to say, in June 2011, that after everything that had happened, Turkey could no longer support Syria. 8. The authorities that the Ad Hoc Sub-Committee members met in Hatay, however stressed that the Syrians had been received on humanitarian grounds and on a provisional basis. 9. It should be pointed out that the Turkish authorities referred to the Syrians as ‘guests’ and never as ‘refugees’. This semantic caution is bound up with certain legal and political considerations which will be dealt with later in this report. The members of the Ad Hoc Sub-Committee have decided not to adopt the Turkish authorities’ terminology, and prefers to refer to the Syrians as ‘refugees’ in this report. Calling them otherwise will not make any difference to the actual situation. 10. Beyond questions of terminology, Turkey has provided the Syrians with an outstanding welcome. Its response has been extremely fast, very generous and of a highest standard. UNHCR has, moreover, congratulated Turkey on its reception of the Syrians. 3 III. Reception facilities in the Hatay area 11. The governor of Hatay Province has been in charge of coordinating the refugee camps since 29 April 2011. All the local institutions have provided support to ensure that Syrian refugees are received in optimum conditions. The camps are run by the Turkish Red Crescent. 12. When the Ad Hoc Sub-Committee visited, 7,958 people were accommodated in the camps (up to 15,000 persons had been accommodated at the peak, but at the time of the visit, people were already starting to return). According to a press release from the Turkish authorities, as at 30 October 2011 a total 2 The Ad Hoc Sub-Committee had previously visited Lampedusa (Italy) on 23 and 24 May 2011. A report on the visit is available at: http://assembly.coe.int/CommitteeDocs/2011/amahlarg03_REV2_2011.pdf . 3 http://www.unhcr.org/4dfb90049.html ; UNHCR publicly acknowledged the efficient nature of Turkey’s response to the unfolding crisis which has been marked with an open-door policy and full commitment to the non-refoulement principle. The Ad Hoc Sub-Committee was informed by UNHCR that it considers that the temporary protection regime provides effective protection for Syrian nationals seeking protection in Turkey. 2 AS/Mig/AhLarg (2011) 04 of 19,398 Syrians had found refuge in Turkey, of whom 11,636 had returned to Syria and 7,762 remained in camps in Turkey. 13. The flow of arrivals has been irregular. At the beginning it was a trickle but there have also been large-scale influxes. It has happened that 1,800 people moved into the tents in the course of a single night. 14. A large field was used for a tent camp, and in the space of just three days everything was set up and made secure. When the Ad Hoc Sub-Committee visited, seven tent camps were available to receive refugees (two in Yayladaðý, two in Altýnözü, one in Reyhanlý, one in Apaydýn and one in Karbeyaz Kuyubaþý). 15. According to the authorities, a committee was established to assess needs in terms of camp infrastructure and facilities. It decided, for instance, that a vaccination campaign was necessary. Steps have also been taken to ensure that members of the same family are not separated. Interpreters (male and female) are available inside the camps. 16. The authorities reported that steps have been taken to ensure that the Syrian refugees have plenty to keep themselves busy. Thus facilities are available for them to watch television or play volleyball and basketball, the women can do needlework or painting on fabric, provision has been made for religious services (with separate places of worship for men and women), there is a call to prayer five times a day, children are taught Arabic, an open-air cinema has been set up, Turkish classes are provided, etc. There is a library with over 2000 books in Arabic, and health-education, first-aid and antenatal courses are provided for those who want them. A wedding ceremony has even been held in one of the camps. As stated above, as the members of the Ad Hoc Sub-Committee were not authorised to enter the camps, they could not see all those facilities by themselves. 17. Some Syrians with family members living in Turkey have been able to visit them (on condition that they return to the camps by evening). The Syrians also have access to telephones and do not have to pay for international calls. Representatives from each camp have also been given permission to go into town to shop. 18. Furthermore, Sub-Committee members observed that the Turkish authorities had been planning ahead, since a huge field had already been prepared and equipped with tents (3,500 places) in the event of a sharp increase in the number of arrivals. During their visit, members of the Ad Hoc Sub-Committee viewed this camp, which was empty at the time but actually ready for use. Other locations (a gymnasium, school dormitories, etc.) had also been identified and were ready to be requisitioned if needed. 19. As to the question of whether the facilities would be adequate if the situation continued throughout the winter, the authorities pointed out that the same tents had been used in Kandahar (Afghanistan), where it could be cold. A Turkish Red Crescent representative confirmed that these tents could be heated and were suitable for winter. Although they hoped that the situation would have improved by then, the Turkish authorities affirmed that they would do whatever was necessary if the refugees had to spend the winter in Turkey. At the time of writing the winter is almost here and roughly 8,000 Syrians are still in the camps. Facilities which have proved adequate for a short period in summer will probably turn out to be unsatisfactory for a longer period in winter. IV. Profile of Syrian refugees 20. All persons present in the camps have been registered, either on the basis of their identity papers or on the basis of declarations if they have no papers (as in the case of children). This list has never been forwarded to the Syrian authorities. 21. Ninety-nine per cent of the refugees in the camps are families.

Load more

  10

Copy Link