Burcu Karakas
Updated Fri, September 22, 2023
Adem Maarastawi poses after an interview with Reuters in Istanbul
By Burcu Karakas
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Anti-migrant sentiment, economic woes and political pressures are leading some of the 3.3 millions Syrians living in Turkey to plan a return to Syria or seek shelter in Europe, according to migrants interviewed by Reuters.
They are concerned that rhetoric against migrants may rear up in campaigning for March local elections, echoing efforts to tap into nationalist sentiments during May's general elections.
Many of those now living in Istanbul face a more immediate worry - authorities' Sept. 24 deadline for them to leave the city if they are registered in other Turkish provinces.
One 32-year-old Syrian said he is saving up to pay smugglers and plans to go to Belgium. Hardship caused by Turkey's rampant inflation and anti-migrant rhetoric motivated his decision.
"We are blamed and scapegoated for the worsening economy. Discrimination is rising. It is becoming impossible for us to live here," he told Reuters, declining to give his name for security reasons.
The 32-year-old is among those affected by Sunday's deadline because he was registered in southeastern Sanliurfa province.
According to rights groups, racist violence against Syrians is increasing and authorities have adopted a tougher policy on migrants not registered in Istanbul, stoking migrants' fears.
Another Syrian man, a 33-year-old teacher, said he could no longer afford to live in Turkey after 10 years spent in Istanbul with his two children, with his expenses exceeding his income.
"I decided to return to Syria because of the bad financial situation in Turkey. I know the situation is bad in Syria too but here it's worse for me," he said, declining to be named.
It was not possible to quantify the number of Syrians currently planning to leave for Europe or return to Syria.
Turkey is home to 3.3 million Syrians with temporary protection permits, according to Turkish authorities. Istanbul has the highest Syrian population with more than 532,000.
While Syrians were assigned to provinces throughout Turkey, many went to Istanbul due to more job opportunities. Authorities said it was unclear how many such people there were in the city.
DEADLINE TO MOVE
Adem Maarastawi, a 29 year-old Syrian activist working in Istanbul, is registered in central Turkey's Kirsehir province.
As Sept. 24 approaches, he fears being sent to Kirsehir.
"I struggled to build a life here. How can I rebuild my life from scratch in another city?" he said, adding that he looked for a job in more than 30 cities before settling in Istanbul.
Experts believe anti-migrant sentiment will dominate opposition campaigning for the March votes, as it did in the May elections, and worry this could lead to more physical and verbal violence against migrants including more social media hostility.
"Anti-migrant rhetoric is likely to rise before the March elections," said Deniz Sert, associate professor of international relations at Ozyegin University.
Local government expert Ali Mert Tascier said opposition parties are likely to use anti-migrant rhetoric, with municipalities being the main players in managing migrants.
During campaigning for the May elections, the main opposition CHP vowed to send Syrians back. It declined to comment on its migration perspective for the local votes.
President Tayyip Erdogan has been fiercely critical of the opposition's stance, telling a conference this week that Turkey's hosting of refugees would continue unchanged.
However, ahead of the May elections, Erdogan played up his plans to repatriate a million Syrian refugees.
"We will continue to pursue our voluntary return policy. It is, however, inappropriate to use migrants for political gain," said Osman Nuri Kabaktepe, Istanbul head of Erdogan's AK Party.
But Maarastawi said he feared such campaigning would lead to a deterioration in the situation for migrants.
"I believe everything will just worsen for us as a result of more populist discourse during the local elections," he said.
(Reporting by Burcu Karakas; Editing by Daren Butler, William Maclean)
By Burcu Karakas
ISTANBUL (Reuters) - Anti-migrant sentiment, economic woes and political pressures are leading some of the 3.3 millions Syrians living in Turkey to plan a return to Syria or seek shelter in Europe, according to migrants interviewed by Reuters.
They are concerned that rhetoric against migrants may rear up in campaigning for March local elections, echoing efforts to tap into nationalist sentiments during May's general elections.
Many of those now living in Istanbul face a more immediate worry - authorities' Sept. 24 deadline for them to leave the city if they are registered in other Turkish provinces.
One 32-year-old Syrian said he is saving up to pay smugglers and plans to go to Belgium. Hardship caused by Turkey's rampant inflation and anti-migrant rhetoric motivated his decision.
"We are blamed and scapegoated for the worsening economy. Discrimination is rising. It is becoming impossible for us to live here," he told Reuters, declining to give his name for security reasons.
The 32-year-old is among those affected by Sunday's deadline because he was registered in southeastern Sanliurfa province.
According to rights groups, racist violence against Syrians is increasing and authorities have adopted a tougher policy on migrants not registered in Istanbul, stoking migrants' fears.
Another Syrian man, a 33-year-old teacher, said he could no longer afford to live in Turkey after 10 years spent in Istanbul with his two children, with his expenses exceeding his income.
"I decided to return to Syria because of the bad financial situation in Turkey. I know the situation is bad in Syria too but here it's worse for me," he said, declining to be named.
It was not possible to quantify the number of Syrians currently planning to leave for Europe or return to Syria.
Turkey is home to 3.3 million Syrians with temporary protection permits, according to Turkish authorities. Istanbul has the highest Syrian population with more than 532,000.
While Syrians were assigned to provinces throughout Turkey, many went to Istanbul due to more job opportunities. Authorities said it was unclear how many such people there were in the city.
DEADLINE TO MOVE
Adem Maarastawi, a 29 year-old Syrian activist working in Istanbul, is registered in central Turkey's Kirsehir province.
As Sept. 24 approaches, he fears being sent to Kirsehir.
"I struggled to build a life here. How can I rebuild my life from scratch in another city?" he said, adding that he looked for a job in more than 30 cities before settling in Istanbul.
Experts believe anti-migrant sentiment will dominate opposition campaigning for the March votes, as it did in the May elections, and worry this could lead to more physical and verbal violence against migrants including more social media hostility.
"Anti-migrant rhetoric is likely to rise before the March elections," said Deniz Sert, associate professor of international relations at Ozyegin University.
Local government expert Ali Mert Tascier said opposition parties are likely to use anti-migrant rhetoric, with municipalities being the main players in managing migrants.
During campaigning for the May elections, the main opposition CHP vowed to send Syrians back. It declined to comment on its migration perspective for the local votes.
President Tayyip Erdogan has been fiercely critical of the opposition's stance, telling a conference this week that Turkey's hosting of refugees would continue unchanged.
However, ahead of the May elections, Erdogan played up his plans to repatriate a million Syrian refugees.
"We will continue to pursue our voluntary return policy. It is, however, inappropriate to use migrants for political gain," said Osman Nuri Kabaktepe, Istanbul head of Erdogan's AK Party.
But Maarastawi said he feared such campaigning would lead to a deterioration in the situation for migrants.
"I believe everything will just worsen for us as a result of more populist discourse during the local elections," he said.
(Reporting by Burcu Karakas; Editing by Daren Butler, William Maclean)
Cyprus calls on the EU to rethink Syrian safe zones for eventually repatriating Syrian migrants
MENELAOS HADJICOSTIS
Updated Fri, September 22, 2023
Ammar Hammasho, migrant from Edlib, Syria, who lives in Cyprus, kisses one of his four children after they arrived with their mother at a refugee camp in Kokkinotrimithia, outside the capital Nicosia, in the eastern Mediterranean island of Cyprus, on Sunday, Sept. 10, 2017. Cyprus has formally called on the European Union to re-evaluate which areas of Syria can be declared safe and free from armed conflict so that Syrian migrants can eventually be repatriated there, the Cypriot Interior Ministry said Friday, Sept. 22, 2023.
NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Cyprus has formally called on the European Union to re-evaluate which areas of Syria can be declared safe and free from armed conflict so that Syrian migrants can eventually be repatriated there, Cypriot authorities said Friday.
Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou was the sole official to raise the issue during July’s informal gathering of his EU counterparts in Spain. No other EU nation has taken a formal position on safe zone re-evaluation, the Interior Ministry told The Associated Press.
Cyprus is fronting the re-evaluation bid because it says its proximity to the region has now made it a prime destination for Syrian migrants.
Ethnically divided Cyprus, with a population of nearly a million in the southern, internationally recognized part where migrants seek asylum, says migrants now comprise 6% of its population – much higher than the average in other EU member countries.
War-torn Syria has for the past 12 years has been designated as an unsafe country where indiscriminate violence poses a real risk to the safety of its citizens. The threat makes them eligible for international protection status which enables them to live and work in third countries.
The government of Cyprus is proposing that the EU re-examine whether conditions on the ground in Syria – or parts of the country – have changed enough for Syrians to be safely repatriated.
The practicalities of how such repatriations would take place could be decided later. One possibility would be to start repatriations of Syrians who hail from the declared safe zones, according to the Cypriot ministry.
Some 40% of 7,369 migrants who have applied for asylum in Cyprus in 2023 until the end of August are Syrians.
The European Union Agency for Asylum says there’s “no real risk” to civilians from indiscriminate violence in only one of Syria’s 13 regions — Tartus. In another four, including Latakia, Damascus, Homs and Quneitra, indiscriminate violence isn’t “at a high level.”
The United Nations refugee agency told the AP that it's “not aware of discussions within the EU regarding a change of policy on returns to Syria at present” but that any refugee repatriations must be voluntary and on an individual rather than a group basis.
"UNHCR and other mandated humanitarian organizations must have access to the entire territory of Syria in order to monitor return conditions, assess needs independently, and deliver services to all, on the basis solely of need,” the agency said.
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