13 days old baby of Syrian family dies of hunger

Via T24 (Link in Turkish) – The baby of a Syrian family died of starvation 13 days after it was born. According to CNN Türk, the couple, Muhammad and Iman Kadah settled in Yalova, a city close to Istanbul, in the Musafa Kemal Paşa neighborhood. They build a makeshift house with planks of wood and plastic sheets with several families of asylum seekers and started to live there.

The mother tried to breastfeed her baby but it didn’t take the milk. They did not have the money to buy baby-food either. On the morning of the 28th June, the mother realized that her baby had died. The police that arrived to the scene had difficulties to communicate as the family did not speak Turkish. The baby was brought to the Yalova state hospital to examine the cause of the death.


Read the article in Turkish here

Turkey Targets INGO Workers and Foreign University Staff, Students

Via Syria Untold – The legal status of Syrians seeking asylum in Turkey is extremely precarious, despite Turkey being a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, and host to the largest number of Syrian refugees. This can be attributed to Turkey’s Temporary Protection Regulation, which does not grant them full refugee status, and the 2015 deal with the European Union. Continue reading Turkey Targets INGO Workers and Foreign University Staff, Students

Turkey receives high tech SAR vessels from IOM

According to IOM the Turkish Coastguard received two high-tech search and rescue vessels, and will receive four more until the end of the year funded by the European Union. The vessels are part of a 20.000.000 EUR agreement between the EU and IOM, who will deliver the boats to the Turkish CG and additionally will offer trainings and support.

While HarekAct generally supports the idea of rescue missions, it is very important to stress that IOM – acting as a service partner for the EU – is again using the narrative of saving lives. Instead of giving those vessels to organizations specialized on rescue mission  that operate from the Greek islands, the aim of the cooperation is obviously to increase the capacities of the Turkish border control and thereby to prevent more refugees from crossing to Greece.

Read the IOM press statement with further information here

Syrian refugees in Turkey return home for holidays

Via Al-Monitor – Thousands of Syrian refugees in Turkey have rushed since June 1 to the Bab al-Hawa and Bab al-Salam crossings on the Turkish-Syrian border to spend the Eid al-Fitr holiday in their homeland. The dates of the holiday, which marks the end of Ramadan, vary by location and Islamic sect. This year it will begin June 25 or 26. Continue reading Syrian refugees in Turkey return home for holidays

Turkish Citizenship should be granted to Syrian Refugees and all other Foreigners!

The Halklarin Köprüsü Derneği (association of bridging people) published a position paper on the debate regarding granting the right to citizenship to Syrian refugees in July 2016. The topic is not current anymore, but we think that the paper contains a lot of important claims and demands.

Click here to read the position paper as PDF

Continue reading Turkish Citizenship should be granted to Syrian Refugees and all other Foreigners!

Syrian acquitted for deaths of refugees in Farmakonisi case!

Via Refugee Support Aegean – The Felony Appeal Court of Dodecanese in Rhodes decided yesterday that the young Syrian – sentenced initially to 25 years imprisonment (sentence to be served) in the Farmakonisi case – was guilty of the transportation of the refugees for being in command of the boat sailing towards Greece. The court acquitted him for the risk to life and the deaths of the passengers of the vessel that sunk on 20.01.2014 off the coast of Farmakonisi causing the death of 12 people including eight children for which he was sentenced on first instance. Continue reading Syrian acquitted for deaths of refugees in Farmakonisi case!

Greece urged to not send refugees back to Turkey

Via AlJazeera – Video: Refugee advocates are hoping Greece’s supreme court will stop people who have lost their asylum claims from being returned to Turkey, which is not deemed safe for many migrants and refugees. Greece is one of the countries dealing with a large number of refugees arriving on its shores. As a result, support services from all over the world have set up base on the tiny island of Lesvos.

To watch the short video, continue here

Abandoned and abused: the forgotten Syrian refugee children on a Greek detention island

Via The Guardian – Stranded on Chios women and teenagers face new horrors, with reports of police beatings, rape and knife attacks:

What those that successfully make the crossing quickly encounter could hardly be further from their aspirations of a civilised and safe world. The child refugees of Chios describe being stabbed by local people, police beatings, attacks by the far right, knife fights among drunken adult asylum seekers, and sleepless nights in flimsy tents on pebble beaches.

Continue reading here