The anti-immigrant sentiment is growing as fast as the number of Syrians taking refuge in Turkey. Already home to more than one million refugees, Turkey\u2019s open door policy is becoming more and more unsustainable.<\/p>\n
According to government figures, Turkey has 22 camps hosting 218,632 Syrians. The rest of the 1.05 million people are dispersed around the country, living in communities.<\/p>\n
Three years ago, when Turkey provided protection and safety for refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria, we applauded it with reservations<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 One particular concern was Turkey\u2019s refusal to call people seeking shelter as refugees, Turkish authorities referred\u00a0 \u00a0to them as \u201cthe guests\u201d instead.<\/p>\n Turkey wanted to keep the camps away from prying eyes of the international agencies while it extended logistical and material assistance to opposition forces in war-torn Syria.<\/p>\n As the numbers swelled and the conflict continued with greater humanitarian and financial burdens, rejecting foreign aid became no longer an option. During the past year, Turkey has started to cooperate with international organisations and humanitarian NGOs.<\/p>\n Whilst this may bring some relief in coping with the influx, Turkey still needs to put in place efficient mechanisms to deal with medium and long term problems of accommodation for the refugees.<\/p>\n The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that there are close to 800 thousand Syrian children in Turkey, half a million of them at school-age.\u00a0 Only a small percentage of these children live and receive education in camps.\u00a0 Majority of those living outside camps have no access to education.<\/p>\n Another vulnerable group among refugees are the women. \u00a0Struggling to survive, they face harassment and sexual exploitation. Amberin Zaman at the Economist<\/a> and the Turkish NGO Mazlum-Der in its Syria report<\/a> gave striking details of their suffering.<\/p>\n Ugly and worrying scenes of local lynch-mobs threatening Syrians in Kahramanmara\u015f and Adana deserve to be condemned strongly.\u00a0 However, angry demonstrations as seen in several towns, including Gaziantep, Urfa, Hatay and Kilis, complaining of the pressure the spiralling number of refugees put on local infrastructures cannot be dismissed lightly.<\/p>\n The causes that lie underneath public hostility towards the refugees include growing unemployment, undercutting of wages by thousands of illegal Syrian workers and rising rents due to increasing demand by Syrian refugees. The presence of Syrian beggars in towns, prostitution and the polygamous marriages with Syrian women cause resentment, too.<\/p>\n Perhaps, the most important issue is that of the Turkey-Syria border which has been causing serious security threats since the beginning of the conflict.<\/p>\n