On April 29, 2011, the first Syrian refugees crossed the border into
Turkey. Two years later, the country hosts some 600,000 Syrian
refugees—200,000 of them living in 21 refugee camps with an additional
400,000 living outside of the camps. According to United Nations
estimates, Turkey will be home to one million Syrians by the end of
2013. Syrians have fled to Turkey in search of safety from a horrific
conflict, leaving behind loved ones, jobs and property.
When the Turkish government opened its borders to Syrian refugees,
immediately extending assistance to them and temporary protection a few
months later, the expectation was that the crisis in Syria would be
resolved fairly quickly and that the refugees would soon return home.
Instead the crisis in Syria has not only lasted far longer than
anticipated, but has escalated, bringing with it widespread destruction
and displacement.
As the conflict intensifies – with no end in sight – and as the
resources of the Turkish government and society are stretched thin,
questions arise about the limits of Turkey's hospitality. The continued
deterioration of the situation inside Syria is putting enormous pressure
on Turkey’s ability to manage the refugee situation within its borders
as well as its capacity to ensure the continued flow of humanitarian
assistance into Syria.
There are five major challenges currently facing Turkey in responding to the Syrian crisis:
- Sustaining the Turkish response to an ever-growing number of refugees
- Mobilizing international solidarity to support the state’s efforts
- Effectively implementing Turkey’s innovative “zero point delivery policy”
- Addressing security issues resulting from both the violence in
Syria and presence of an ever-increasing number of Syrian refugees in
Turkey
- Recognizing that humanitarian action cannot take the place of political action to resolve the broader crisis
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