Syria refugee boy caught staring in a Turkey gym given lifelong access

A picture of a 12-year-old Syrian refugee looking into a gym in the Turkish city of Adıyaman has gone viral prompting the owner of the gym to give him a lifelong membership.

Wearing battered sandals and with a shoeshine box over his shoulder, the young Syrian told Turkish daily Daily Saba, that he was daydreaming about losing weight as he watched the gym members exercise.

Adıyaman’da Olimpiyat Spor Merkezi, bu fotoğraftaki çocuğu arıyor. Ömür boyu üyelik hediye edeceklerini açıkladılar. pic.twitter.com/KK9i6LhqF9

— Tribun Dergi (@tribundergi) January 3, 2018

After a gym member took the picture outside the Olympiat Sports Centre and posted it on social media, body builder and gym owner Mustafa Kucukkaya reposted the image on his own Instagram account with the caption: “When we see the photo, we are very touched as a sports family” and asked the public to help him identify the boy.

Fotoğrafı sosyal medyada gördüler… https://t.co/tyykcFqGpx pic.twitter.com/1OVrCtFiZV

— Demirören Haber Ajansı (@dhainternet) January 8, 2018

He was later spotted a few days later shining shoes and Kucukkaya subsequently met him and offered him a lifetime membership.

The boy was identified as Mohammed Hussein who lives with his family and makes a living selling scrap paper and collecting metal from rubbish bins, according to BuzzFeed.

“A rich businesswoman from Ankara called and said she will send a package to his house. Even a person from Qatar called,” Kucukkaya told BuzzFeed.

According to the United Nations’ figures, more than 13 million Syrian refugees required humanitarian aid in 2016 and around five million refugees have sought asylum outside Syria.

The number of refugees in Turkey reached over 3.7 million in 2017, making Turkey the country in the world with the highest number of refugees, according to the European Commission. About 94 per cent of Syrian refugees in Turkey live outside the camps with limited access to basic services.