Study: Most Syrian refugees in Türkiye happy, don't feel discriminated

Most of the Syrians who fled the civil war in their country and are living in neighbouring Türkiye are happy and don't want to go back home, according to a new study.

Syrians do not feel excluded or discriminated against in Türkiye, which hosts the largest refugee population in the world, M Murat Erdogan, director of the Ankara-based Research Centre on Asylum and Migration (IGAM), told Anadolu Agency, citing a new report.

"Syrians generally seem satisfied with their life in Turkiye, " Erdogan said, referring to the findings of the latest data from an annual report "Syrians Barometer-2020: A Framework for Achieving Social Cohesion with Syrians in Türkiye."

The report is supported by UNHCR Türkiye and is set to be released next week.

The report, now in its third edition, is based on face-to-face surveys.

Researchers conducted surveys with 2,259 Turkish citizens in 26 provinces chosen by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). Separately, a total of 1,414 families were surveyed to receive information on nearly 7,000 Syrians under temporary protection in 15 provinces.

"In 2017, the rate of those who said they don't want to return to Syria in any case was only 16 percent," Erdogan said, citing data from earlier editions of the study. "Then this rose to 34 percent in 2019 and later to 58 percent."

READ MORE: Syria unsafe for any refugee return from host countries - HRW

Working conditions, temporary status

The number of Syrians living in Türkiye is now around four million, and according to the Interior Ministry, nearly 175,000 Syrians received Turkish citizenship between 2011 and 2021.

According to the latest edition of the study, there are two issues of the greatest concern for Syrians in Turkiye.

"One is their temporary status, as it presents a major obstacle for them thinking ahead to the future," said Erdogan.

The other issue of concern is the Syrians' working conditions, as in general, they are "standing on their own two feet" but their working conditions are difficult, he said.

"When we ask the Turkish public if the Syrians have adapted to living with Turks, they complain about the Syrians, but when we ask the Syrians themselves, they think that they’ve adapted to Türkiye. 80-90 percent think so," he explained.

He said the Turkish public used to see Syrians as victims and as oppressed people fleeing war, but recently started to see them more and more as a problem.

According to the research, the Turkish public sees Syrians as one of the biggest problems facing Türkiye, after the economy and terrorism, Erdogan said.

He also pointed to a contradiction in this, as Turks and Syrians have been living side-by-side in the same country for more than a decade now.

"We live relatively peacefully. So, the expectations of the Turkish public and what's actually being experienced diverge from each other," he added.

READ MORE: US envoy to UN: Turkey crossing 'best for aid to Syria'

Ukraine conflict and refugee deal 

Erdogan said the 2016 deal between the European Union and Türkiye on refugees as an "important turning point" for relations between Ankara and Brussels.

"But unfortunately, not in a very positive sense," he said.

Türkiye's execution of the 2016 deal with the EU is widely credited with stemming a surging refugee crisis, and Türkiye has touted its success in defending its borders – also the EU’s de facto frontier.

According to Ankara, the EU also backed away from political commitments as part of the deal, including visa liberalisation for Turkish citizens traveling to Europe, opening new chapters for Türkiye's EU accession process, and negotiations on upgrading the 1995 EU-Türkiye Customs Union.

With the deal, the EU effectively turned Türkiye into "a strategic partner" rather than a candidate to the bloc, he added.

Although the EU has been criticised for not doing enough to share the burden, Erdogan said "outside the EU, there is no support" for Türkiye.

Stressing the need to update the deal, Erdogan said the ongoing attack on Ukraine – now in its fourth week – would make a new agreement between Türkiye and the EU "a bit more difficult."

The conflict has sent a flood of Ukrainian refugees into nearby European countries – over 3.38 million at last count by the UN, and still rising – including Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, Moldova, and Türkiye.

As this new refugee flow continues, the EU budget for other refugee aid will be cut, he said, "because new needs have begun to emerge, and these needs are growing."

Syria has been mired in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity. Hundreds of thousands of people have since been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN figures.