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Half of Syrians in Turkey will not return to homeland, says report

November 27, 2020 at 2:53 pm

Syrians with their belongings on their way to Syrian-Turkey border as they leave the de-escalation zones on 15 November 2019 [Muhammed Abdullah/Anadolu Agency]

Half of Syrian refugees in Turkey are unlikely to return to their homeland, a study by a Turkish university has found.

According to the “Syrian Barometer” survey by the Migration and Integration Research Center of Turkish-German University in Istanbul, there are officially 3.6 million Syrians living in Turkey.

The head of the centre and the author of the survey, Professor Murat Erdogan said over the period of last three years, it was observed that the rate of happiness amongst Syrians in Turkey has increased rapidly.

The report showed that the percentage of Syrians who said “I will never return to Syria” was 16.7 per cent in 2017. In 2019, it increased to 51.8 per cent.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR Syria) also collaborated with the centre for this report.

UNHCR Representative Katharina Lumpp said in a written statement that Turkey is home to the largest refugee population in the world, with close to four million refugees and asylum-seekers, some 3.6 million of whom are Syrians under temporary protection.

“Turkey has a comprehensive legal framework for international and temporary protection.  This report provides a valuable reference for many who are interested to work in this field, ” she also added.

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