Turkish Government Regulating working life for Syrian refugees

Hrriyet Daily News

February/10/2015
The government has produced a plan to introduce new working regulations for the more than 1.6
million Syrian migrants in the country, guaranteeing them a registered minimum wage, as they are still
officially considered guests, not refugees.
We have finalized where and how the Syrians will work. We have marked the borders, Labor
Minister Faruk elik told Hrriyet, elaborating on a study by the Labor Ministry, which is set to be
officially drafted.
The regulation will ban refugees from working in the tourism sector in particular destinations, but they
will be able to work officially in certain fields so long as their total number does not exceed 10 percent
of the sum of employees in the workplace.
We are making precise calculations on this issue. Syrians are already working illegally. We will keep
a record of this and audit it, elik said, vowing that the regulation will not affect the Turkish labor
force.
The labor deficit is higher in part-time and seasonal work. So we have brought in some limits for
particular sectors and regions, he added, also saying that all Syrian workers will have to be registered
and will be paid at least the minimum wage.
Syrians will also not be allowed in places where they might pose security risks, and the Interior
Ministry will be responsible for regulating this issue.
Employing Syrians as doctors or engineers, meanwhile, will be dependent on the related ministries,
elik said.
Turkey has been receiving Syrian refugees since unrest started roiling the neighboring country in 2011.
Turkey should create immigration policy for Syrian refugees, report says
January/10/2015
Syrians will stay in Turkey for an extended period of time, with some potentially spending their entire
life in Turkey, a new report titled The Effects of the Syrian Refugees on Turkey has stated, adding
that the government should therefore formulate a comprehensive immigration policy for the future.
The initial presence of Syrian refugees on Turkish territory has now become a permanent one. It is
crucial to create an immigration policy that includes the prevention of reactions from local
communities," said the report prepared by the Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies (ORSAM)
and the Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV).
"There should be a holistic policy covering education, working conditions, accommodation, social
services and improving the receptivity of the host community, it added.
If the integration process works effectively, the Syrian refugee situation might contribute to the
diversity and development of a multicultural structure in Turkey in the long run, the report also said,
adding that the situation could strengthen the bonds between the neighboring countries in the future.
The report urged that the most serious security threat is a risk of a violent mass reaction prompted by
provocations capitalizing on local anger toward Syrian refugees.

The biggest concern among people living close to Turkey's southern borders is their perceived
vulnerability to terrorist attacks, the report added.
According to official numbers, there were 1,645,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey as of November 2014.
Unofficial numbers are estimated at around 2 million. Around 1.2 million people have been included
in the 10 million already residing in cities near the Syrian border, and about 85 percent of the Syrians
live outside of refugee camps, the report stated.
With an Interior Ministry decision in October 2011, registered Syrian refugees were given temporary
protection status, which covers indefinite residence, protection against returning under coercion and
responding to emergency needs.
Some 500,000 Syrian patients have been sent to hospitals from the camps. According to the Health
Ministrys data, 35,000 Syrians have given birth in Turkey, while the number of Syrians working in
Turkey has reached 200,000 individuals, said the report.
The report cited some of the key social effects of the presence of Syrian refugees as follows:
Polygamy among local communities is spreading as a result of an increase in divorce rates; child labor
is spreading; ethnic and sectarian polarization could spike; and uncontrolled urban development is on
the rise.
The inflow of the refugees has also had economic effects. There has been an increase in rental prices
and, as a result, it is often difficult to find affordable rental spaces. There has also been an increase in
inflation in border cities, and hiring illegal workers is spreading, especially among small businesses,
the report said.
Turkey protest in Istanbul over Syrian refugees
25 August 2015
BBC News
Businesses were attacked, windows broken and a car overturned in the western suburb of Ikitelli, on
the European side of the city.
Youths shouted anti-Syrian slogans and Turkish media said five people were taken to hospital.
As many as 1.2 million Syrians have gone to Turkey to escape the civil war.
Riot police moved in to halt the unrest on Sunday evening. An estimated 300 people were said to have
taken in the violence, some of them armed with sticks and knives.
The large number of Syrian refugees in Turkey has heightened tensions in some cities, particularly in
the east.
But Syrian refugees are very visible in Istanbul, Turkey's biggest cities, and many resort to begging.
The UN says it has 822,000 refugees registered in Turkey although the government in Ankara says the
number is far higher.
Many have fled to Gaziantep, 100km (62 miles) from the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. Clashes there
earlier this month were prompted by the murder of a Turkish landlord by a refugee, reports say.

After the violence, the authorities said they would move the refugees out of the city to tent cities.