Page 68 - Syrians in Türkiye - Special Report

GRAND NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF TÜRKİYE THE OMBUDSMAN INSTITUTION

However, the decrease in the number of attempted crossings did not prevent the
dramatic increase in the number of deaths. Because refugees who are determined to go
to Europe and those who organize smuggling have begun to follow more risky routes,
deaths have increased. According to numbers provided by IOM, while the number
of people drowning in the sea was about 3,500 in 2015, this number has increased to
5,000 in 2016. In other words, the number of people drowning in the sea on their way
to escape is 13-14 per day.

Another important issue that comes to mind when refugees and security are mentioned
is the different “security” risks that refugees will create in the society where they take
refuge.

As is well known, the most serious concerns raised everywhere in the world is that
mass influxes are the local masses of refugee raids will cause local people to lose their
jobs because of the cheap labor force that refugees represent and security problems
arising from the refugee populations. Here the concerns focus not only on refugees but
also on possibility that an uncontrolled environment may emerge and create favorable
conditions for terrorist organizations and organized crime networks. On the other hand,
it is not surprising that there are people who commit crime in a population exceeding
3.4 million, regardless of where they live in the world. As a result of the interviews
conducted in the provinces visited for this report, we saw that there are no significant
problems of public order caused by Syrians; cases in which Syrians have been involved
often originated from hostility among themselves, and in most cases, plaintiffs were
found to be Syrians. This fact observed in the fieldwork was also revealed numerically
in a Ministry of the Interior press release dated July 5, 2017.

This statement reports that; “The ratio of total crimes committed by Syrians to the total
crimes committed in Türkiye is quite small considering their total population in our country. The
ratio of the events that Syrians were involved in to the total public order incidents in Türkiye
annually is on average 1.32% between the years 2014-2017. An important portion of these
events is incidents that arise from disagreements among themselves. In addition, despite the
increase in the number of Syrians, there has been a 5% decrease in crimes committed by Syrians
in 2017, compared to the first six months of the previous year. Nationwide, a total of 3,046
persons were arrested in the implementation of the “Huzurlu Sokaklar” (Peaceful Streets)
operations, which were held two times, on May 17 and May 27. In the first operation, it was
determined that 149 of them were Syrians and in the second application, it was determined
that 230 of them were Syrians, and necessary judicial and administrative actions were taken.
Moreover, it was also established that some of those arrested were people disguised in Syrians.”
This was found to be worth mentioning considering the number of Syrians in Türkiye.

68 SYRIANS IN TÜRKİYE SPECIAL REPORT