Young Syrians plagued by discrimination in Turkey

On Friday, Bahcesehir University’s Center of Migration and Urban Studies in Istanbul released a report highlighting the longstanding socioeconomic challenges Syrian refugees face in Turkey.

As in many countries with large refugee populations, there has been ongoing tension between residents and immigrants for years, and life is increasingly difficult for the refugees. In Hatay, which hosts around 439,000 Syrians — around a third of the city’s total population — already-scarce resources are often stretched to breaking point, resulting in further ill feeling towards the refugees.

The university’s report includes a survey of 808 Syrians aged 18-25 in two Turkish cities with large numbers of Syrian refugees — Hatay and Izmir, on the Aegean coast, which is home to around 146,000 Syrians — in October and November last year.

According to official figures there are around 1.2 million Syrian refugees between the ages of 18 and 25 currently living in Turkey — a third of the country’s total population of Syrian refugees.

Half of those surveyed by the university said they wanted to return home, or move away from Turkey, because of their living conditions and the discrimination they face.

However, the university noted, most of those who said they wanted to leave were in the low-income bracket.

Omar Kadkoy, a migration policy analyst at Ankara-based think tank

HIGHLIGHT There are around 1.2 million Syrian refugees between the ages of 18 and 25 currently living in Turkey.

TEPAV, said the report highlights the structural shortcomings of Turkey’s “harmonization policy.” “Bureaucracy is marginalizing skilled Syrians and preventing them from fulfilling their potential, hence depriving Turkey of needed, but underutilized, capabilities,” he told Arab News. According to the survey, 45 percent of Syrian youth in Turkey neither work nor go to school. As 86.6 percent cannot get a certificate of equivalence for their diploma, they cannot attend university or apply for certain jobs for which they may be qualified.