Turkey authorities 'ejecting Syrians from quake shelters': report
Turkey authorities 'ejecting Syrians from quake shelters': report
Turkish authorities are allegedly moving Syrian survivors of Monday’s devastating earthquake to make way for Turkish ones, according to local media reports.
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Already marginalised in Turkey, Syrians earthquake victims are in need of aid, medical supplies and shelter [Getty]
Turkish authorities are allegedly moving Syrian survivors of Monday’s devastating earthquake to make way for Turkish ones, according to local media.
A large number of Syrians affected by the earthquake have been temporarily evacuated by authorities to shelters in the southern Turkish city of Mersin, the Syrian, UAE-based Orient News reported.
However, some Syrians who had been at the shelters, which included the city’s main university accommodation, said they were moved along by authorities after just three days, with no reason given for the removal.
Syrian activists told Orient News that some Syrian evacuees were moved along to inadequate accommodation.
Others said that no alternative at all was provided for them, according to the Syrian outlet.
The city of Mersin is close to some of the areas worst hit by the earthquakes, which have killed at least 28,000 people.
In videos shared online, one Syrian woman said that they were removed from the shelter at night time and spent hours stuck on a bus, with no indication of where they would be sent to.
Another Syrian woman also said she was asked to leave the shelter by local authorities after only staying there for two days, despite being a Turkish citizen, Orient News said.
Earlier this week, Turkish far-right politician Umit Ozdag appeared in a video online saying that "it was unacceptable" that Turkish authorities sent Syrian earthquake evacuees to the shelters in Mersin.
He also said that he and members of his Victory Party will go to the southeastern city and hold a press conference where they would ask the public’s opinion on Syrians sheltering in there, before urging the return of the accommodation to students.
Ozdag on Friday accused Syrian refugees of "looting and stealing" during the evacuation process on his Twitter account.
The politician has a history of racist and xenophobic campaigns against Syrians in Turkey, and has called for their deportation on multiple occasions, according to the Stockholm Center for Freedom.
Syrians, who number close to 3.5 million in Turkey, have been subjected to discrimination, xenophobia and racism in the country, with politicians from several political factions using them as scapegoats for Ankara's economic and political crises.
Thousands of Syrian refugees have been forcibly detained and deported from Turkey by the Erdogan administration to so-called safe zones in Syria, which are deemed precarious by rights groups.
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