Turkey seeks more assistance for Syrian refugees

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Turkey is crying foul against in adequate international aid and resettlement initiatives by its Western allies for Syrian refugees and demanding more assistance. This comes as Ankara is being faced with new challenges, among them, an increasing number of Syrian citizens in the country who are living outside of refugee camps.

"We have almost more than 1 million Syrian refugees in Turkey and the num-ber is mounting day by day. More than 700,000 of them are currently living in cities. Our Western allies have pledged to take in just 18,000 Syrians. I don't even want to compare those numbers. There were times we received over 10,000 refugees overnight," said Dr. Fuat Oktay, director general of Turkey's Disaster and Emergency Administration, (AFAD) via a video conference during a panel on Syrian refugees at the Migration Policy Institute on Wednesday.

The number of Syrian refugees who are living in Turkish cities has tripled and reached 522,000 this month according to statistics released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. That is creating a growing need in big cities where detecting unregistered Syrians is relatively harder. Turkey is currently hosting 220,000 Syrians in 22 city-like camps where the conditions are said to be better than any camp in the entire region.

However, the rapid increase in the number of Syrians who are looking for immediate shelter in Turkish metropolitan areas has forced the government to seek extra measures to help with the growing demands of those people.

"It is clear that refugees are not about to return home anytime soon. The refugee population outside camps is expected to surpass 1 million by the end of the year. The government is trying to register them but the process is far from complete. Turkey should recognize that many Syrians have already started to integrate into Turkish society," wrote Kemal Kirişçi, a senior fellow of Brookings Institute in his report on the Syrian refugees crisis.

Turkey is already providing free healthcare to all Syrians and distributing working permits to registered Syrian workers. But recent news reports suggest that the conditions of Syrians in cities are getting worse. Many rich Syrians who were able to support their families' needs are running out of money. Multiple families are living in one-bedroom flats and many Syrian beggars are now being seen in the center of cities, including Istanbul.

"We are doing our best to help those people who are [in need of] assistance. Turkey has spent over $3 billion [TL 6.3 billion] for Syrian refugees according to U.N. statistics. We are providing extra aid near the borders to serve people who are [stuck] between Syria and Turkey. Apart from that there are other $400 to $500 million being spent by the Turkish aid organizations inside of Syria. International aid is only limited to $220 million so far," Dr. Oktay stated.

Oktay called international organizations, actors and NGO's to register and become part of AFAD's so-called aid distribution system for the upcoming donations. The system is giving location-based information on the demands of registered urban refugees. Users could see what the needs of the refugees are and how much money is necessary to get them by seven days of the week and 24 hours of the day, and an ID and password could be provided by AFAD.

"We do need an international burden sharing those refugees. We need open-door policies for all the countries not just Turkey and sustainable assistance," he concluded.