Persecution

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.

The fast-breaking (iftar) dinners provided by Istanbul’s central Beyoğlu Municipality have become a rare opportunity for Syrian refugees to receive free and substantial meals.

The United Nations Security Council has denounced militant persecution of Christians and other minorities in Iraq, warning such actions can be considered crimes against humanity.

The Islamic State, which last month declared a “caliphate” straddling large swathes of northern Iraq and Syria, has threatened a Christian presence in the region.

BELGRADE - The internally displaced people (IDPs) from Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) should be offered a chance to return to their homes, although a majority of them who have had the status for the past 15 years now want to stay in central Serbia, officials stated at the gathering organised by the Friedrich Naumann Foundation on Friday.

Syrians fleeing their country’s conflict have found some respite in Istanbul, but many compatriots are not so lucky

Syrian families who have fled their country due to ongoing war have found shelter on Istanbul sidewalks and parks, clutching onto life with the help of locals, but others face harsher conditions elsewhere in Turkey.

Tension between locals and Syrians escalated in the southeastern province of Gaziantep when a car with a Syrian plate hit a family on July 15, injuring a mother and a daughter.

The U.N. Security Council authorized on July 14 humanitarian convoys to enter through four border crossings, across Turkey, Iraq and Jordan, without the approval of the government in Damascus. The resolution will allow aid deliveries to take place at Turkey’s Cilvegözü (Bab al-Hawa) and Öncüpınar (Bab al-Salam) border gates into areas held by Syrian rebels.

The tide of refugees flocking to Bulgaria has been growing again over the past few weeks, Interior Minister Tsvetlin Yovchev announced.

He told a Parliament Committee that lately at least 150 to 200 people were sent back from the border every day.

A group of 25 Syrian refugees were forcedly evicted from homes where they were sheltering in the southeastern province of Gaziantep on July 1. The refugees were attacked by a crowd of locals after rumors spread that children in the area who were playing on the streets had been threatened by knife-wielding Syrians.

BELGRADE - Director of the Office for Kosovo-Metohija (KiM) Marko Djuric met with Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary at the U.S. Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration Simon Henshaw and informed him that IDPs from the province and refugees rank high on the list of the Serbian government priorities.