OLGA KRAVETS / NOOR FOR "THE WORLD"
ReportThe consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic are worrying in a country that hosts 3.6 million refugees. The latter face a growing sense of hostility among the Turkish population, especially in Izmir.
It seems far away, the time when Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened Europe with a new migratory wave and decided to no longer hold its border with Greece. It was less than a month ago. Since then, the Covid-19 pandemic has reshuffled the cards. On March 18, Turkey closed its land borders with Greece and Bulgaria to limit the spread of the new coronavirus in the country. Turkish authorities have ordered over-65s and those with chronic illnesses to stay at home, or face fines. Demonstrations and rallies were banned and restaurants, cafes and other collective spaces closed.
In the country of 82 million inhabitants which hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees – 3.6 million – the consequences of the pandemic worry. "This is an emergency situation which will again affect the most disadvantaged, migrants and refugees, dreads Hakan Bilgin, president of Médecins du Monde (MDM) in Turkey. If all these people have no more income, their precariousness will increase. Nothing is planned so that they can feed themselves, take care of themselves, pay for water and electricity … It is a crisis in the crisis. "
Izmir, the third city in Turkey on the edge of the Aegean Sea, reputedly secular and anti-AKP, officially welcomes 150,000 Syrian refugees – in reality they would be much more numerous. They tell of a fragile integration. Fadi Haydar was leading the construction sector in Syria. Today, this 43-year-old man has the feeling of " to lose (his) talent " in construction sites for 150 Turkish pounds a day (21 euros), while his wife, Racha Kamar, sells Syrian dishes made in his little kitchen to restaurants.
"Passed from the status of temporary guests to that of unwanted"
Hulud Hattab has become " householder " by force of circumstances. Married at 13, mother of three, she had never worked in Syria. In Izmir, when her husband is too sick to support the household, she learned Turkish from colleagues, in the kitchen of a restaurant, as a waitress, in a textile factory or even a chair manufacturing company …
In spite of the "Temporary protection" from which they benefit in the country, the Syrians face a feeling of growing hostility within the Turkish population. "Since the arrival of the Syrians, rents have gone up, the education system and hospitals are full and fake news is circulating about what it costs the Turks", observes Anne O’Rorke, an Irishwoman who founded the Tiafi migrant aid NGO.
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