Earthquakes ‘heighten threat’ of hostility against Syrian refugees

The earthquakes which devastated southeast Turkey and northwest Syria early this month have seen a deepening of hostility among some Turkish people toward Syrian refugees who have fled a dozen years of conflict in their homeland.

The earthquakes on February 6th killed more than 47,000 people in Turkey and Syria, damaged or destroyed hundreds of thousands of buildings and left millions homeless.

Of the 3.5 million Syrians in Turkey, 1.6 million have been living in the earthquake zone.

Among the thousands of Syrians who lost family members and homes in the earthquake zone, some have been offered shelter and food by Turkish neighbours, but others have been ejected by Turkish victims from tent camps and shelters.

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The words “Immigrants go home,” and “We don’t want Syrians,” have been posted on social media and scrawled on remaining walls of earthquake-levelled buildings. Syrians have been beaten by crowds in earthquake-afflicted areas.

“While our nation is in trouble, refugees and fugitives are looting the tents, clothes and food sent to the earthquake victims,” ultra-right Turkish politician Umit Ozdag tweeted. A member of Turkey’s parliament since 2018, he heads the anti-immigrant Victory Party which he founded in 2021 after being expelled from two nationalist parties.

A lawyer from Diyarbakir, Cihan Aydin told Lebanon’s daily L’Orient-Le Jour: “The desperation caused by the earthquake, combined with racism and hate speech, have heightened the threat against refugees.”

The main route for aid deliveries, Turkey’s Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Syria’s northwest Idlib province, is also used by Syrians returning home with victims of the earthquakes.

Only those carrying “temporary protection” cards from the 10 affected provinces are allowed to leave for three to six months before returning to Turkey.

Most of those who remain in Turkey have not been allowed to move to unaffected provinces.

Before the earthquakes, Syrians were held responsible by some Turkish people for high rents, soaring food and fuel prices, currency depreciation, and rising unemployment.

Ahead of the May 14th presidential and parliamentary elections,. the three main opposition parties have also campaigned on sending Syrians home. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has tried to benefit from his efforts to resettle reluctant Syrians in Idlib and Turkish-occupied enclaves in Syria.

He also invited Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to hold a summit to discuss refugees. Mr Assad declined, saying he would not meet Mr Erdogan before the elections and arguing that Turkey had to withdraw from Syrian territory and end support for armed groups seeking to overthrow the Syrian government before addressing refugees.

The Turkish government communications office did not reply to The Irish Times’ request for comment.

Turkey meanwhile launched a temporary wage support scheme on Wednesday and banned layoffs in 10 cities to protect workers and businesses from the financial impact of the earthquakes that hit the south of the country.

Under Turkey’s economic relief plan, employers whose workplaces were “heavily or moderately damaged” will get wage support for workers whose hours had been cut, the country’s Official Gazette said on Wednesday. – Additional reporting: Reuters