Turkish deputy PM concerned over growing Syrian refugee population

Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay has sought to allay widening concerns over the growing number of Syrian refugees begging on streets as well as over the cheap labor force provided by the refugees, while calling on provincial administrations to deal with the issue, via assistance from civil society if necessary.

Recalling that Turkey has so far built 22 camps mostly in provinces close to the border with Syria to host refugees fleeing the ongoing civil war, Atalay said Aug. 1 and noted that the camps were currently hosting 220,000 refugees and that there was space in camps for 30,000 more people.

“The data that we have for the moment concerning the [refugee] population outside of the camps is 1,104,000 people,” Atalay said, speaking at a joint press conference with Fuat Oktay, the president of the Prime Ministry’s Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD).

“We are still trying to register all of these [people]. Those housed in camps are all registered, and around 60 percent of those outside the camps are also registered,” Atalay said.

Acknowledging that conditions have been forcing some of the refugees to beg on streets, Atalay particularly underlined that there was still space in camps. They also sent a related circular to governors, he said, without elaborating on the content of the circular.

“We still have vacant places in our camps. Do not allow scenes like begging. Civil society organizations there can also help these [people]. But if you send them to camps, we have vacant places. We can build new camps too, we are looking for venues. We don’t want such scenes for our Syrian siblings,” Atalay said.

When reminded of allegations that some business owners have...