Türkiye’deki Suriyeli Sığınmacıların Sosyo-Ekonomik Yaşama Etkileri: Fayda Maliyet Ekseninde Bir Bakış
Ayhan GençlerYirminci yüzyılın son çeyreğinden itibaren Türkiye, yakın coğrafyasında meydana gelen iktidar/rejim değişiklikleri sonrasında, farklı türlerde göç akımlarına maruz kalmıştır. Son olarak da, Ortadoğu ile Kuzey Afrika bölgelerinde yer alan bazı ülkelerde, rejim karşıtı eylemler çatışmaya dönüşmüş; Arap Baharı olarak da bilinen bu çatışmalar sonrasında da, bu ülkelerden ülkemize, göçmen ve sığınmacı/mülteci akını başlamıştır. Türkiye de komşusu olan Suriye’de iç karışıklığın artması ve bu ülkeden kaçan insanlara yönelik uyguladığı açık kapı politikasıyla, kısa zamanda milyonlarca Suriyeli sığınmacıya ev sahipliği yapmak zorunda kalmıştır. Sığınmacıların ülkemizde konuşlanmaları ve kalış sürelerinin belirsizliği, Türkiye’nin sosyo-ekonomik yaşamında yeni sorun alanlarının ortaya çıkmasına neden olmuştur. Bu makalede de Suriyeli sığınmacıların ülkemizdeki sosyal ve ekonomik yaşama olan fayda ve maliyetleri incelenmektedir. Bu bağlamda bu çalışmanın amacı, Suriyeli sığınmacıların, tarihinde ilk kez bu kadar kısa süre içinde kitlesel bir göç hareketi içinde kalmış olan Türkiye’nin, sosyoekonomik yaşantısına olan etkilerini ortaya koyabilmektir. Buradan hareketle, bu çalışmada öncelikli olarak Suriyeli sığınmacıların yasal statüleri incelenecek ardından da eğitim, sağlık, güvenlik, istihdam ve ekonomik bakımından olumlu ve olumsuz etkileri ortaya konmaya çalışılacaktır.
Effects of Syrian Refugees on Socio-Economic Life in Turkey: An Overview on the Cost–Benefit Axis
Ayhan GençlerSince the last quarter of the twentieth century, Turkey has been exposed to different waves of migration after certain regime changes in some of the countries within close proximity to it. In some countries in the Middle East and North Africa regions, anti-regime actions eventually turned into conflict; After these conflicts, also known as the Arab Spring, an influx of immigrants and asylum seekers/refugees started to emerge from these countries to our country. Turkey has been forced to host millions of Syrian refugees in a short space of time due to growing internal turmoil in neighbouring Syria and due to its open-door policy towards people fleeing from other countries. The uncertainty of the deployment of these refugees in Turkey, not to mention the uncertainty surrounding the duration of this situation, has led to the emergence of new problem areas in Turkey’s socio-economic life. This article examines the benefits and costs of Syrian refugees to our country’s social and economic life. In this context, the aim of this study is to demonstrate the effects of Syrian refugees on the socioeconomic life of Turkey, which has been involved in a mass migration movement for the first time in its history. Our primary aim in this study will be to examine the legal status of Syrian refugees and then the positive and negative effects of the refugee situation on education, health, safety, employment and the economy will be shown.
Today’s Syria lived under Ottoman rule for four hundred and three years. After leaving the domination of the Ottoman Empire, Syria’s relations with Turkey have consistently been problematic. Thanks to the efforts of the AKParty (JDP- (Justice and Development Party) which came to power in 2002, relations between Turkey and Syria were positive between 2004 and 2011. After 2011, the anti-regime events and conflicts that started in Syria caused a significant proportion of the Syrian people to leave the country. With its open-door policy towards Syrians, Turkey has become a host to about five million Syrians (including unregistered ones), which is far above what Turkey had expected to do. After this flood of refugees, Turkey has had to face the refugee problem. In previous years of migration, Turkey considered the events temporary and tried to overcome the problems with palliative solutions. In the face of the reality of Syrian refugees, Turkey has been engaged in intensive efforts to shape national migration legislation and produce policies. The country has made significant progress both in terms of legislative arrangements and institutional structures.
While the Syrian refugees initially concentrated in the border cities, they later turned towards the big cities. They form a significant proportion of the population in some of our provinces such as Kilis and Hatay, which are located in the border regions. In cities such as Istanbul and Bursa, the ratio of the city to the general population is low, but they nonetheless form a significant proportion of the population and ghettoization can be observed in some districts of these cities. The current situation of the number of Syrian refugees today will cause significant economic problems and crime-based concerns in the future as well as today. The concerns are exacerbated by social media and these concerns are increasing day by day, sometimes for real reasons and sometimes not.
The fact that 46.5% of Syrian refugees are in the 0-18 age range also highlights the issue of education. In order to adapt to society and save their future, the importance of refugee children receiving education is emerging as a very real concern. However, due to the language problem, the fact that the language of education is Arabic both makes it difficult to question the quality of the education given and also imposes significant costs on the country’s economy. In terms of health services, the right of refugees to benefit indefinitely and free of charge has been provided. This not only leads to a reduction in efficiency in overall service quality in terms of health, but also adds additional financial burdens to the budget by increasing the need for new institutions and staff. In order to reduce this cost, there is already a draft law in the TBMM (GNAT-Grand National Assembly of Turkey) to limit health services to one year. There is also concern that the economic difficulties of Syrians and their inability to integrate into society will increase their criminal tendencies. According to the data obtained, 1.32% of the incidents of crime in Turkey are carried out by Syrians. However, in provinces such as Kilis, where the population is densely populated, crime rates have increased to 30%. Of course, these rates do not include the number of incidents not referred to judicial authorities. These are due to tolerance, however, it is estimated that there may be a significant proportion. The reason why the incidents are not reported to the judicial authorities is the fact that the criminals are forgiven. However, the case rate is estimated to be high.
There is a need for refugees to be economically empowered to live their lives while they are in Turkey. Therefore, they are supported in order to be present in the working life. This support may also lead to the development of some flexible situations, both in entrepreneurship and in ignoring situations where the agreement between the worker and the employer may just be informal.
Almost all Syrians are in informal employment. In addition, some people perceive that Syrian refugees might be part of the reason why unemployment rates in our country are 1.5% higher than it is thought they should be and this perception might cause the refugees to be looked on unfavourably. Although the Syrians provide capital inflow to the economy in terms of entrepreneurship with the capital they brought with them, it is understood that forty billion dollars of expenditure was allocated to them, according to the government. This figure refers to the expenditure of a very important resource for a country such as Turkey which has problems with funds and payments. In this article, the social and economic status of Syrian refugees in Turkey is evaluated and their contribution to the social and economic life of our country is examined along with the cost that this has incurred.
