Turkey Response To Syria Crisis
Turkey Response to Syria Crisis
(As of August, 2017)
The Syrian civil war, which kicked off in March 2011, has claimed at least 470 thousand lives, mostly civilians. Over the past six years, thirteen out of 20 million Syrian citizens have become dependent on humanitarian assistance. While the conflict displaced 7.6 million Syrians, approximately 5.1 million people took refuge in neighbouring countries.
Having adopted an open door policy for Syrian asylum-seekers in 2011, Turkey continues to present Syrian war victims with an opportunity to get their lives back on track. All Syrian asylum-seekers continue to enjoy free healthcare, as hundreds of thousands of Syrian children resume their education in Turkey.
Turkey’s Disaster and Emergency Management Authority, which has been coordinating the country’s response to the humanitarian crisis, houses 233,400 Syrian nationals in 21 temporary housing facilities equipped with schools, hospitals and athletic facilities. In addition to addressing residents’ basic needs, AFAD encourages the refugee community to participate in camp management through elections and heals the wounds of war by providing professional training to residents.
Syrian children back in schools
Education of the Syrian children, who have taken refuge in Turkey, has always been top priority. 80.742 children have been reintroduced to schools in AFAD sheltering centres.
508.846 children in total were provided with the opportunity to continue their education, in consequence of the steps taken with the cooperation of Ministry of National Education. The works for reaching all Syrian children in Turkey are continuing uninterruptedly.
Free of Charge Healthcare Services
Turkey provides free of charge healthcare services and medicines to all registered Syrians in the country.
Within the scope of the health services rendered to Syrian nationals, 953.466 operations have been carried out, 25.919.750 million outpatient services have been rendered, and 1.143.393 hospital patients were treated.
224.750 Syrian babies have been born in Turkey.
Early marriage and polygamy awareness trainings are given to young girls through Women's Committees at sheltering centres.
Vocational Training
222.869 Syrians have acquired professions through various certificate programs in AFAD refuge centres, such as on foreign languages, using computer and carpet weaving.
The Best Public Services in the World
AFAD coordinates the services rendered to thousands of people in the sheltering centres through the Disaster Temporary City Management System (AFKEN).
AFKEN won the "Best Public Services” in 2015 given by United Nations.
Most Generous Country - Turkey
According to the 2017 Global Humanitarian Aid Report, Turkey is the 2nd largest contributor to humanitarian relief and “the most generous country” in the world.
Development Initiatives, a U.K.-based platform monitoring humanitarian aid across the world, released a report today, announcing Turkey as the country that gives most to people in need compared to its gross national income. The latest report also shows Turkey as the second largest humanitarian donor in the world.
Turkey's humanitarian assistance reached $6 billion from $3.2 billion in 2015 and the country's increased international aid efforts granted it the second place for the second consecutive year in the Global Humanitarian Assistance Report. Turkey gave the most humanitarian assistance as a percentage of gross national income at 0.75 percent the report shows, and it was followed by UAE and Luxembourg at 0.18 and 0.15 percent respectively.
The report shows the international humanitarian assistance in total reached $27.3 billion last year from $25.7 billion in 2015. Turkey's humanitarian assistance makes up 22 percent of the total aid.
