Via Hürriyet (link in Turkish) – The Refugee Rights Commission of the Turkish Parliament explains that since the beginning of the conflict in Syria, 276.000 Syrian babies born in Turkey stay in an ‚haymatlos‘[1] status and thus face a risky future with neither Turkish nor Syrian identification papers. By the end of September 2017, the number of Syrian babies born in Turkey was at 276.158 and the details of the report are as follows.
“The procedure of getting the Turkish citizenship is not based on territory but at least a Turkish mother or father is a prerequisite to acquire Turkish citizenship. The many Syrian children born in Turkey who remain stateless, risk of becoming a lost generation. In this context, research should be done on granting citizenship to Syrian children.”
According to the Commission’s findings, by November 2017, 976.200 of the Syrians in Turkey are children who are in the age of education. 333.000 of those children go to public schools and 305.000 of them go to temporary training centers. The schooling rate has reached 62%. By 2017, 19.000 Syrians are provided with university education in Turkey. 12% of foreign students in Turkey are Syrians. 160.000 Syrian adults attended Turkish language courses. By the end of 2017, 32 million ambulatory care services were provided for Syrians.
[1] Haymatlos means “without territory” in Turkish, and refers to the fact that the person affected doesn’t have any national identification paper.