HAZIRLANIYOR...

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ONDOKUZ MAYIS ÜNİVERSİTESİ

 

SOSYAL BİLİMLER ENSTİTÜSÜ

 

COĞRAFYA ANABİLİM DALI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPACTS OF FORCED MIGRATION: A CASE STUDY OF SYRIAN AND IRAQI FORCED MIGRANTS IN SAMSUN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yüksek Lisans Tezi

 

 

 

 

 

Obaida M. A. ASSIDA

 

 

 

 

 

Danışman:

 

Prof. Dr. Cevdet YILMAZ

 

 

 

 

 

Samsun, 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ONDOKUZ MAYIS ÜNİVERSİTESİ

 

SOSYAL BİLİMLER ENSTİTÜSÜ

 

COĞRAFYA ANABİLİM DALI

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPACTS OF FORCED MIGRATION: A CASE STUDY OF SYRIAN AND IRAQI FORCED MIGRANTS IN SAMSUN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yüksek Lisans Tezi

 

 

 

 

 

Obaida M. A. ASSIDA

 

 

 

 

 

Danışman:

 

Prof. Dr. Cevdet YILMAZ

 

 

 

 

 

Samsun, 2016

 

 

 

BİLİMSEL ETİK BİLDİRİMİ

 

 

Hazırladığım Yüksek Lisans Tezinin bütün aşamalarında bilimsel etiğe ve akademik kurallara riayet ettiğimi, çalışmada doğrudan veya dolaylı olarak kullandığım her alıntıya kaynak gösterdiğimi ve yararlandığım eserlerin kaynakçada gösterilenlerden oluştuğunu, yazımda enstitü yazım kılavuzuna uygun davranıldığını taahhüt ederim.

 

… /… / 20…

 

 

 

 

Obaida M. A. ASSIDA

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I

 

TEZ KABUL VE ONAYI

 

 

 

Obaida M. A. ASSIDA tarafından hazırlanan ‘The Economic and Social Impacts of

 

Forced Migration: A Case Study of Syrian and Iraqi Forced Migrants in Samsun’ başlıklı bu çalışma, __ / __ / ____ tarihinde yapılan savunma sınavı sonucunda oy birliğiyle/oy çokluğuyla başarılı bulunarak jürimiz tarafından Yüksek Lisans Tezi olarak IIabul edilmiştir.

 

İmza

 

 

Başkan : ________________________________                                      _________________

 

 

 

Üye : ___________________________________                                     _________________

 

 

 

Üye : ___________________________________                                     _________________

 

 

 

 

Yukarıdaki imzaların adı geçen öğretim üyelerine ait olduğunu onaylarım.

 

__ / __ / ____

 

Enstitü Müdürü

 

(İmza ve Mühür)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

II

 

ÖZET

 

ZORUNLU GÖÇLERİN EKONOMİK VE SOSYAL ETKİLERİ; SAMSUN‟DAKİ SURİYELİ VE IRAKLI GÖÇMENLER ÜZERİNE BİR ÇALIŞMA

 

Obaida M. A. ASSIDA

 

Ondokuz Mayıs Üniversitesi, Sosyal Bilimler Enstitüsü

 

Coğrafya Ana Bilim Dalı, Yüksek Lisans, Temmuz / 2016

 

Danışman: Prof. Dr. Cevdet YILMAZ

 

Bu araştırmanın amacı; zorunlu göçler ve bu göçlerin,göçmenlere ve Samsun‟un yerli halkına olan sosyal ve ekonomik etkisini saptamak ve değerlendirmektir. Nitekim bu çalışmadazorunlu göçlerin bir sonucu olarak göçe katılan kişilerin; konut talebi, eğitim ve sağlık ihtiyaçları, iş ve istihdam durumları, gelir kaynakları ve zorunlu harcamaları gibi belirli ekonomik ve sosyal alanlarda Samsun‟a etkilerininortaya konulması hedeflenmiştir.

 

 

Araştırmada, zorunlu göçmen ve yerli katılımcılar içinden rastgele seçilen 240 kişiye iki farklı anket uygulanmıştır. Ayrıca120‟si zorunlu göçmen, 40‟ı yerli halk ve 3‟ü hükümet dışı kuruluşların temsilcilerinden olan toplam 163 katılımcıyla da yüz yüze görüşmeler gerçekleştirilmiştir.Bunlara ek olarak, araştırmadan elde edilen sonuçların daha iyi analizi ve yorumlanmasına imkân veren katılımcı gözlem tekniği kullanılmıştır.

 

Araştırmada yerinden etme / olma hareketi sınanmış,göçmenlerin bundan sosyal ve ekonomik anlamda olumsuz etkilendiği tespit edilmiştir.Göçmenlerin sağlık durumları ve hizmet alımları kötüleşmiş, konut durumları değişmiş ve büyük çoğunluğu kiralık evlerde yaşamaya başlamıştır. Ayrıca, zorunlu göçmen çocukların eğitim durumu aksamış ve çoğu okula gidememiştir. Ek olarak, göçmenlerin iş durumu olumsuz etkilenmiş, yerli çalışanların maaşı ve Türkiye‟deki asgari ücretle karşılaştırıldığında kazançlarının çok az olduğu saptanmıştır.Bütün bunlara karşılık, geldikleri andan bu yana,bahsedilen bu olumsuz tablolarda gözle görülür gelişmeler de yaşanmaktadır. Örneğin, zorunlu göçmenler yerli halkla bütünleşmek için ciddi çaba sarf etmektedir.

 

Yerli halka etkileri açısından değerlendirildiğinde ise; göçmen varlığının olumlu etkileri olumsuz etkilerinin önüne geçmeye başlamıştır. Göçmenler Samsun‟da iş kurmuş, inşaat ve turizm sektörünü harekete geçirmiş ve şehre yeni iş olanakları sağlamışlardır. Ayrıca göçmenler, yerel halkın farklı kültürleri anlaması için iyi bir şanstır. Bununla birlikte göçmenlerin varlığına bağlı olarak yerel halkın maaşlarının düşmesi, kira fiyatlarının artması ve sosyal huzurda bozulma gibi olumsuz etkiler de tespit edilmiştir.

 

Anahtar Sözcükler:Samsun, Zorunlu Göçler, Yerli Halk, Ekonomi

 

III

 

ABSTRACT

 

THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL IMPACTS OF FORCED MIGRATION: A CASE STUDY OF SYRIAN AND IRAQI FORCED MIGRANTS IN SAMSUN

 

Obaida M. A. ASSIDA

 

Ondokuz Mayis University,Institute of Social Sciences

 

Department of Geography, M. A., July / 2016

 

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Cevdet YILMAZ

 

 

 

 

This research aims to determine and evaluate the social and economic impact of forced migration, as a movement of specific groups of people from one geographical area to another in special conditions, on the displaced people, as well as on the host community in Samsun. Thus, the research explores the impact on specific economic and social issues such as the housing situation, educational process, health situations and services, employment status, income rate, and expenditures.

 

In order to achieve the research goals, two different questionnaires for forced migrants and local respondents were implemented with 240 respondents who were chosen randomly. Simultaneously, 163 interviews were conducted with 120 forced migrants and 40 local respondents, as well as 3 interviews with representatives of non-governmental organizations. In addition, the participant observation technique was utilized to allow for better interpretation and analysis of the results.

 

The research has revealed that the movement of displacement has affected the examined social and economic aspects negatively. The housing situations have changed and the vast majority of them are living in rented houses, the health situations and services have deteriorated, and the educational process of forced migrant students has fallen back and the majority of them are out of school. In addition, the employment status has been negatively affected and their average monthly wage is very low in comparison to the local workers and to the minimum wage in Turkey. However, there is a noticeable improvement in these issues since the time of arriving and there are serious efforts from the forced migrants to integrate themselves into the host society.

 

In terms of the effects on the host community, there are more positive effects than negative effects of their presence. They create jobs, constitute sources of foreigner currencies, activate the construction and tourism sectors, provide the city with new experiences, and they provide an opportunity to understand other cultures. However, their presence has some negative impacts such as decreasing the salaries, increasing the rental prices and caused disruption of social peace.

 

Key Words: Samsun, Forced Migration, Host Community, Economic

 

 

 

IV

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

 

 

 

 

First and foremost, I have to thank my parents, Mohammad and Zahida, for their endless love, tremendous support and encouragement throughout my life, as well as, for allowing me to be as ambitious as I wanted which gave me the strength and courage to chase my dreams. As well, I should give huge thanks to my wonderful sister, Fatima, and brothers Orwa and Abdurrahman, for their support and encouragement. My great family, thank you for your unwavering belief in me. You made me into who I am today; I hope I have made you proud.

 

 

Next, I would like to gratefully and sincerely thank my supervisor Assoc. Prof. Cevdet YILMAZ for his guidance, understanding, patience, not only during this thesis project but also during the two years of my Master program at Ondokuz Mayis University, and especially for his confidence in me. His mentorship was paramount in providing a well-rounded experience consistent with my long-term career goals. For everything you have done for me,Assoc. Prof. YILMAZ, I thank you. I would also like to express my gratitude to the head of Department of Geography at Ondokuz Mayis Universıty Assoc. Prof. Ali UZUN, as well as Assoc. Prof. H. Ibrahim ZEYBEK, Asst. Prof. Muhammet BAHADIR, Asst. Prof. Tamer ÖZLÜ andall staffs at Department of Geography at the university.

 

Special thanks to the teaching assistant, Hasan DINÇER, for the unlimited help since the time of my arrival in Samsun. He helped me in my study‟s issues, as well as, in coping with the life in Samsun and finally in coordinating my thesis to be identical to the standards of the Institute.

 

I would like to extend my gratitude to all teaching staff in the Department of Geography at An-Najah National University, where I did my bachelor program, who helped me to believe in myself and who provided me with a strong foundation in the subject I love. You set me on the path I am on now and I have never looked back.

 

I also want to thank a great group of friends who I have been blessed with during my study years. First, I would like to thank my dear friends Saritel ABBASZADE and

 

V

 

Aziza HAJIBALAYEVA, who were fundamental in supporting me during the stressful and difficult moments and offered their help when I needed, especially when I do not understand some Turkish words and texts. In addition, I would never forget the all beautiful moments that I shared with them during the last two years. Besides, I would like to thank Kheyransa BABIRZADE and Sevinj NAMAZLI for their help in implementing the questionnaires.

 

Besides, I should give massive thanks to my friend Ibrahim AL-GRESH who accompanied me during the time implementing and writing the thesis and kept supporting and helping me all the time. I would also like to thank Mohammad KELANY who helped me and I was asking for his advice. As well, I would like to thank Serbest SHEIKHMOUS, Mohammad HALLAK, Hussam Al-Dean, Ahmad BUZYYA,

 

 

On a more personal note, I would like to thank my friend Amy AUSTIN for helping me get through the difficult times, for all the moral support and constant encouragement. Amy, you made me more confident and were very supportive. Thank you for your thoughts, well-wishes, prayers, calls, texts, editing, and advice. I wish you the best in your Master program.

 

I also thank all of my other friends (too many to list here but you know who you are!) for providing support and friendship that I needed.

 

I would like to express my gratitude to all interviewees and respondents from the forced migrants and local community in Samsun for their good cooperation as well as for the interviewees from non-governmental organizations.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

VI

 

 

CONTENTS

 

 

 

ÖZET.......................................................................................................................................................................... III

 

Anahtar Sözcükler:Samsun, Zorunlu Göçler, Yerli Halk, Ekonomi........................................... III

 

ABSTRACT........................................................................................................................................................... IV

 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................................................ V

 

CONTENTS......................................................................................................................................................... VII

 

LIST OF TABLES.......................................................................................................................................... XIV

 

 

LIST OF FIGURES..................................................................................................................................... XVII

 

ABBREVIATIONS....................................................................................................................................... XIX

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

 

1. Background.......................................................................................................................................................... 1

 

2. Statement of the Problem.............................................................................................................................. 3

 

3. Purpose of the study........................................................................................................................................ 4

 

4. Significance of the Study.............................................................................................................................. 4

 

5. The Hypothesis................................................................................................................................................... 5

 

6. Method.................................................................................................................................................................... 5

 

6.1. Sampling....................................................................................................................................................... 6

 

6.2. Data collection........................................................................................................................................... 8

 

7. Limitations and challenges............................................................................................................................ 9

 

 

 

CHAPTER 1

 

 

LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL OVERVIEW

 

 

1.1. Forced Migration and Refugee, Definition and Distinction................................................. 11

 

1.2. Geography and migration studies....................................................................................................... 14

 

1.3. Main Categories of Forced Migration.............................................................................................. 16

 

 

VII

 

1.3.1. Refugees................................................................................................................................................. 16

 

1.3.2. Asylum Seekers.................................................................................................................................. 18

 

1.3.3. Human Trafficking............................................................................................................................ 18

 

1.3.4. Internally displaced persons (IDPs)......................................................................................... 19

 

1.3.5. Development-Induced Displacement (DID)....................................................................... 19

 

1.3.6. Environmental and Disaster Displaced People................................................................... 20

 

1.3.7. Returnees............................................................................................................................................... 20

 

1.4. Impacts of forced migrants.................................................................................................................... 21

 

1.4.1. Economic impacts.............................................................................................................................. 22

 

 

1.4.1.1. Labor Market............................................................................................................................... 22

 

1.4.1.2. Remittances.................................................................................................................................. 25

 

1.4.1.3. Living costs and other economic impacts..................................................................... 26

 

1.4.2. Social Impacts..................................................................................................................................... 27

 

1.4.2.1. Social Stability............................................................................................................................ 27

 

1.4.2.2. Public Services and Social Development...................................................................... 28

 

1.4.2.3. Education...................................................................................................................................... 29

 

1.4.2.4. Healthcare..................................................................................................................................... 29

 

1.4.2.5. Social Development................................................................................................................. 30

 

1.4.2.6. Gender and age-based effects............................................................................................ 30

 

CHAPTER 2

 

 

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND LEGAL

 

FRAMEWORK

 

 

2.1. Historical Brief on Migration in Turkey.......................................................................................... 32

 

2.2. Current Forced Migrants Crisis............................................................................................................ 37

 

2.3. Current challenges...................................................................................................................................... 39

 

2.3.1. The Uncertainty.................................................................................................................................. 39

 

2.3.2. Employment and Labor Market................................................................................................. 40

 

2.3.3. Education............................................................................................................................................... 40

 

 

VIII

 

2.3.4. Health and housing........................................................................................................................... 41

 

2.3.5. Social challenges................................................................................................................................ 42

 

2.4. Historical Brief on Migration in Samsun Province..................................................................... 43

 

2.4.1. Internal migration and Samsun................................................................................................... 43

 

2.4.2. International migration and Samsun........................................................................................ 45

 

2.4.2.1 Immigration to Samsun............................................................................................................ 45

 

2.4.2.1.1. Immigrants from Crimea and Caucasus................................................................ 45

 

2.4.2.1.2. Immigrants from Balkans............................................................................................. 46

 

2.4.2.1.3. Other immigrants to Samsun...................................................................................... 46

 

 

2.4.2.2. Emigration from Samsun....................................................................................................... 47

 

2.4.2.2.1. Population exchange....................................................................................................... 47

 

2.4.2.2.2. Other Emigrants................................................................................................................ 47

 

2.4.2.3. Current Forced Migrants in Samsun (2012-2016).................................................... 47

 

2.5. Legal Framework of Turkish Asylum Policy................................................................................ 51

 

 

 

CHAPTER 3

 

 

AREA OF STUDY

 

 

3.1. Location and Area...................................................................................................................................... 56

 

3.2. Climate............................................................................................................................................................. 57

 

3.3. Population....................................................................................................................................................... 58

 

3.3.1. Urban and rural population in Samsun.................................................................................... 58

 

3.3.2. Factors affecting population distribution.............................................................................. 59

 

3.3.3. Educational status of population............................................................................................... 60

 

3.4. Agriculture...................................................................................................................................................... 60

 

3.4.1. Agricultural Production.................................................................................................................. 61

 

3.4.1.1. Grain production........................................................................................................................ 61

 

3.4.1.2. Legumes production................................................................................................................ 61

 

3.4.1.3. Industrial plants.......................................................................................................................... 62

 

3.4.1.4. Vegetable production.............................................................................................................. 62

 

 

IX

 

3.4.1.5. Fruit production......................................................................................................................... 62

 

3.4.1.6. Olive production........................................................................................................................ 63

 

3.4.2. Livestock................................................................................................................................................ 63

 

3.4.3. Forestry................................................................................................................................................... 63

 

3.5. Energy and Natural Resources............................................................................................................. 64

 

3.5.1. Energy Resources.............................................................................................................................. 64

 

3.5.2. Underground resources................................................................................................................... 65

 

3.6. Industry............................................................................................................................................................ 65

 

3.6.1. Industrial organizations.................................................................................................................. 65

 

 

3.7. Transportation............................................................................................................................................... 66

 

3.7.1. Highway Transport........................................................................................................................... 66

 

3.7.2. Railway transport............................................................................................................................... 67

 

3.7.3. Marine transport................................................................................................................................. 67

 

3.7.4.Air transport........................................................................................................................................... 67

 

3.7.5.City transportation.............................................................................................................................. 67

 

3.8. Trade.................................................................................................................................................................. 68

 

3.9. Tourism............................................................................................................................................................. 68

 

 

 

CHAPTER 4

 

 

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

 

 

4.1. Social and Demographic Features of the Respondents........................................................... 70

 

4.1.1. Social and Demographic Features of the Forced Migrant Respondents............... 70

 

4.1.1.1. The age and gender distribution........................................................................................ 70

 

4.1.1.2. Nationality.................................................................................................................................... 71

 

4.1.1.3.Marital Status................................................................................................................................ 72

 

4.1.1.4.Educational Level....................................................................................................................... 72

 

4.1.1.5.Occupation..................................................................................................................................... 73

 

4.1.2. Social and Demographic Features of the Respondents from Host Community . 74

 

4.1.2.1. The age and gender distribution........................................................................................ 74

 

 

X

 

4.1.2.2. Educational Level..................................................................................................................... 75

 

4.1.2.3. Marital Status.............................................................................................................................. 76

 

4.1.2.4. Occupation.................................................................................................................................... 76

 

4.2. Reasons of Leaving and Choosing Samsun................................................................................... 76

 

4.2.1. Reasons of Leaving the Home Country................................................................................. 76

 

4.2.2. Why did they move to Samsun?................................................................................................ 78

 

4.2.2.1. Education Factor....................................................................................................................... 80

 

4.2.2.2. Security and Social Factors.................................................................................................. 81

 

4.2.2.3. Economic Factor........................................................................................................................ 81

 

 

4.2.2.4. Turkish Authorities................................................................................................................... 83

 

4.2.2.4.1. Examples of Illegal or Unregistered Forced Migrants in Samsun........... 85

 

4.2.2.5. Presence of Relatives or Friends........................................................................................ 86

 

4.2.2.6. Other Reasons............................................................................................................................. 87

 

4.2.2.6.1. Health Services.................................................................................................................. 87

 

4.2.2.6.2. The Sea Factor................................................................................................................... 87

 

4.2.2.6.3. The Nature Attractiveness........................................................................................... 88

 

4.2.3. The Reasons of Choosing Samsun from the Locals Perspective............................... 88

 

4.3. Legal Situation............................................................................................................................................. 89

 

4.3.1. Entry......................................................................................................................................................... 89

 

4.3.2. Legal Status.......................................................................................................................................... 91

 

4.3.3. Reasons of Not Having Temporary/International Protection Card.......................... 93

 

4.3.4. Asylum Seekers.................................................................................................................................. 95

 

4.3.5. The expected date for resettlement.......................................................................................... 97

 

4.4. Housing............................................................................................................................................................ 99

 

4.4.1. Area of Living in Samsun.............................................................................................................. 99

 

4.4.2. Effects on Housing Situation.................................................................................................... 101

 

4.4.3. Where were they living before they rented their current home?............................. 102

 

4.4.4. The Ways of Furnishing the House........................................................................................ 103

 

4.4.5. Some Notes Related to the Housing Issue......................................................................... 107

 

4.4.6. Effects on Housing from Locals Perspective.................................................................... 108

 

4.5. The Effects of Forced Migration on the Educational Process........................................... 109

 

XI

 

4.5.2. Learning Turkish Language....................................................................................................... 112

 

4.5.3. Effects of Forced Migration on Educational Process of Children......................... 115

 

4.5.4. Obstacles of Access to Schools............................................................................................... 117

 

4.5.4.1. Working to Help their Families........................................................................................ 118

 

4.5.4.2. Language Barrier..................................................................................................................... 119

 

4.5.4.3. Children Refuse to Go to School................................................................................... 120

 

4.5.4.4. Moved to Samsun Recently.............................................................................................. 120

 

4.5.4.5. Cannot Afford the Costs of Sending Children to School................................. 121

 

4.5.4.6. Other............................................................................................................................................. 121

 

 

4.5.5. Does The Forced Migration Has Negative Effects On Educational Level Of

 

Children?.......................................................................................................................................................... 122

 

4.5.7. Future of the Educational Situation...................................................................................... 126

 

4.5.8. Education of Forced Migrants from Locals‟ Perspective.......................................... 129

 

4.5.9. Free Education for Forced Migrants..................................................................................... 131

 

4.6. Impacts of Forced Migration on Health Situation................................................................... 132

 

4.6.1. Health Situation of Forced Migrants Before and After the Displacement........ 134

 

4.6.2. Access to Health Care.................................................................................................................. 137

 

4.6.3. Treatment in Samsun..................................................................................................................... 139

 

4.6.3.1. Reason of Not Getting Medical Consultation......................................................... 139

 

4.6.4. Improvements in Healthcare...................................................................................................... 141

 

4.6.5. Effects on Health Services by Locals‟ Perspective....................................................... 143

 

4.6.5.1. Effects on Access to Health Services........................................................................... 143

 

4.6.5.2. Free access to Health Services......................................................................................... 145

 

4.7. Employment Situation........................................................................................................................... 146

 

4.7.1. Effects on employment status of Forced Migrants........................................................ 146

 

4.7.1.1. Child Labor................................................................................................................................ 149

 

4.7.1.2. Future of Labor Market....................................................................................................... 151

 

4.7.2. Effects on Employment Situation from Host Community‟s Perspective.......... 152

 

4.7.2.1. Difference in Salaries between Forced Migrants and Locals........................... 153

 

4.7.2.2. Finding Jobs in Samsun....................................................................................................... 153

 

4.7.2.3. The Effects on Salaries........................................................................................................ 154

 

 

XII

 

4.7.2.4. Creating New Job Opportunities.................................................................................... 155

 

4.7.2.5. Effects on Samsun‟s Market............................................................................................ 156

 

4.8. Income and Expenditures.................................................................................................................... 156

 

4.8.1. Personal and Family Income..................................................................................................... 156

 

4.8.2. Main Income Source...................................................................................................................... 157

 

4.8.3. Expenditure........................................................................................................................................ 159

 

4.9. Expected Impacts on Social Life..................................................................................................... 160

 

4.9.1. Changing in Clothing Style........................................................................................................ 160

 

4.9.2. Changes Related to Food and Drink Sector..................................................................... 161

 

 

4.9.3. Languages Diversity...................................................................................................................... 161

 

4.9.4. Changes in Behaviors.................................................................................................................... 161

 

4.10. Positive Impacts from the Locals‟ Perspective...................................................................... 162

 

4.11. Negative Impacts from the Locals‟ Perspective.................................................................... 163

 

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS....................................................................... 164

 

REFERENCES................................................................................................................................................ 172

 

APPENDIX........................................................................................................................................................ 179

 

Appendix 1:..................................................................................................................................................... 179

 

Appendix 2:..................................................................................................................................................... 184

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XIII

 

LIST OF TABLES

 

Table 1: The main categories of forced migration……………………………         16

 

Table 2: Sent-received migrants and net migration rate of Samsun

44

Provincefrom 2008-

 

2011………………………………………………………

 

Table 3: Registered foreigners in Samsun province in April 2016 based on

 

their status................................................................................................................................. 49

 

Table 4: The age and gender composition of forced migrant respondents ……     71

 

 

Table 5: The nationality of the respondents……………………………………     72

 

Table 6: Marital status of the respondents …………………………………….     72

 

Table 7: The educational level of forced migrant respondents………………..       73

 

Table 8: The occupations of the respondents before and after the

 

displacement …………………………………………………………       74

 

Table 9: The age and gender composition of local respondents ……………..        75

 

Table 10: The educational level of local respondents…………………………       75

 

Table 11: The occupations of the local respondents ………………………..           76

 

Table 12: The reasons of leaving the home country by nationality……………      77

 

Table 13: The reasons of choosing Samsun by nationality…………………….      79

 

Table 14: The ability of forced migrants to change the city of residence?................ 83

 

Table 15: The reasons why forced migrants have come to Samsun from the

 

Locals Perspective…………………………………………………….    87

 

Table 16: The relation between the possession of a passport and the way of

 

entry. ………………………………………………………………….    91

 

Table 17: The temporary/international protection card holders……………….       92

 

Table 18: The reasons for not having a temporary/international card………            94

 

Table 19: Asylum seekers by nationality……………………………………           96

 

Table 20: The expected date of resettlement for asylum seekers……………...      97

 

Table 21: Distribution of respondents on municipalities in Samsun………….        99

 

Table 22: The average rental price by year of arrival (TL)……………………        101

 

Table 23: The average rental price by municipality (TL)……………………..         102

 

 

XIV

 

Table 24: Changes on rental prices in the last two years from locals‟
perspective……………………………………………………………	108
Table 25: Current Educational Situation of Forced Migrants in Samsun…….	109
Table 26: Current Educational Situation of Forced Migrants in Samsun in the
age category (18-25)……………………………….............................	111
Table 27: Iraqi and Syrian forced migrant students at TÖMER in the last 3
years…………………………………………………………………...	112
Table 28: Frequency and percentage of children‟s enrollment at schools in
Samsun………………………………………………………............	115
Table 29: The number of non- enrolled students in schools in comparison to
the total number of children. ………………………………………..	116
Table 30: Reasons of not sending children to schools in Samsun…………….	118
Table 31: Do you think that migration from the original country has affected
the educational level of students in your family negatively? ………	123
Table 32: The delay in the educational process due to forced migration……	124
Table 33: The role of the Turkish government in the educational process from
the forced migrants‟ perspective. ………….…………..……………	125
Table 34: The expectation of forced migrants about the future of education
process…………..…………..…………..…………..………………	128
Table 35: Forced migrant students at schools from the locals‟ perspective…	129
Table 36: The reasons for opposing the presence of forced migrant students
and the locals in the same classrooms. …………..…………..………	131
Table 37: Attitude of the local population about free education for forced
migrant students…………..…………..…………..…………..……..	132
Table 38: Health situation of forced migrants before and after the
displacement…………..…………..…………..…………..…………..	135
Table 39: Health insurance for forced migrants before and after the
displacement. …………..…………..…………..…………..…………	138
Table 40: Health situation in Samsun and medical consulting ……………….	139
Table 41: Reason of not getting medical consultation…………..…………….	140

 

 

Table 42: Improvements in healthcare from the forced migrants‟ perspective..      143

 

 

XV

 

Table 43: Access to health services from the locals‟ perspective. …………….      144

 

Table 44: Free Access to Health Services …………..…………..…………….       145

 

Table 45: The employment status of forced migrants before and after the
displacement. …………..…………..…………..…………………….	147
Table 46: Reasons of not being satisfied with job. …………..………………	149
Table 47: Forced migrant children labor in Samsun…………..……………	150
Table 48: The future of the labor market situation for forced migrants in
Samsun…………..…………..…………..…………..………………..	151
Table 49: Finding job in Samsun …………..…………..…………..………….	154
Table 50: Effect of forced migrant workers on average salary…………..…...	155
Table 51: The main income sources…………..…………..…………………...	158

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

XVI

 

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Number of Syrian forced migrants in Turkey since December 2011
(UNHCR Data, 2016). …………..…………..…………..…………….	37
Figure 2: Changes in the number of registered forced migrants in Samsun since
December 2013. …………..…………..…………..……………………	48
Figure 3: The map of the area of study………………………………………….	57
Figure 4: The percentage of urban and rural population of Samsun province in
2012. …………..…………..…………..…………..…………………...	59
Figure 5: The reasons of leaving the home country by nationality……………	77
Figure 6: Chart showing the reasons of choosing Samsun by forced migrants…	79
Figure 7: The ability of forced migrants to change the city of residence? ........	84
Figure 8: “Abdurrahman” the Iraqi forced migrant after the operation…………	86
Figure 9: The reasons why forced migrants have come to Samsun from the
Locals Perspective……………………………………………………………	88
Figure 10: The relation between the possession of a passport and the way of
entry. …………..…………..…………..…………..…………..………	91
Figure 11: The temporary/international protection card holders…………..……	92
Figure 12: The reasons for not having a temporary/international card…………	94
Figure 13: Asylum seekers by nationality…………..…………..………………	96
Figure 14: The expected date of resettlement for asylum seekers………………	98
Figure 15: Distribution of the respondents on municipalities in Samsun………	100
Figure 16: Forced migrant children in Samsun sleep on the kitchen‟s floor…..	104
Figure 17: The carpet constitutes the bedroom for a forced migrant family…..	104
Figure 18: Iraqi forced migrant family lives in unfurnished room…………….	105
Figure 19: An unfurnished house inhabited by forced migrant family………..	105
Figure 20: An empty fridge at house inhabited by 13 forced migrants………..	106
Figure 21: An empty kitchen at house inhabited by 13 forced migrants……….	106
Figure 22:Current Educational Situation of Forced Migrants in Samsun………	110
Figure 23: Current Educational Situation of Forced Migrants in Samsun in the
age category (18-25). …………..…………..…………..……………....	111

 

 

 

XVII

 

Figure 24: Iraqi and Syrian forced migrant students at TÖMER in the last 3
years. …………..…………..…………..…………..…………..………	113
Figure 25: Frequency and percentage of children‟s enrollment at schools in
Samsun. …………..…………..…………..…………..………………..	116

 

Figure 26: Reasons of not sending children to schools in Samsun. …………….      118

 

Figure 27: Do you think that migration from the original country has affected

 

the educational level of students in your family negatively? ………….	123
Figure 28: The delay in the educational process due to forced migration……..	124
Figure 29: The role of the Turkish government in the educational process from
the forced migrants‟ perspective. …………..…………..………………	125
Figure 30: The expectation of forced migrants about the future of education
process…………..…………..…………..…………..………………….	128
Figure 31: Forced migrant students at schools from the locals‟ perspective……	130
Figure 32: Attitude of the local population about free education for forced
migrant students. …………..…………..…………..…………..………	132
Figure 33: Health situation of forced migrants before and after the
displacement…………..…………..…………..…………..……………	136
Figure 34: Health insurance for forced migrants before and after the
displacement. …………..…………..…………..…………..…………..	138
Figure 35: Reason of not getting medical consultation…………..……………..	141
Figure 36: Improvements in healthcare from the forced migrants‟ perspective..	143
Figure 37: Access to health services from the locals‟ perspective. ……………..	144
Figure 38: Free Access to Health Services …………..…………..……………..	146

 

 

Figure 39: Reasons of not being satisfied with job……………………………...     149

 

Figure 40: Forced migrant child selling “Simit” in Samsun…………………….      150

 

Figure 41: The future of the labor market situation for forced migrants in
Samsun…………..…………..…………..…………..…………..……	152
Figure 42: Effect of forced migrant workers on average salary……………….	155
Figure 43: The main income sources. …………..…………..…………..………	159

 

 

 

 

 

XVIII

 

ABBREVIATIONS

 

 

 

IASFM: International Association for the Study of Forced Migration.

 

UNHCR: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee.

 

IOM: International Organization for Migration.

 

IDPs: Internally Displaced Persons.

 

FMO: Forced Migration Online.

 

 

FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization.

 

ILO: International Labour Organization.

 

DID:Development-Induced Displacement.

 

TL: Turkish Lira.

 

USD: United States Dollar.

 

EU: European Union.

 

TurkStat : Turkish Statistical Institution.

 

GWH: Gigawatt-hours.

 

MW: Megawatt.

 

OAU: Organization of African Unity.

 

SPRRA: Special Program for Refugee Affected Area

 

UNOCHA: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

 

GDMM: the General Directorate of Migration Management

 

NPAA: National Programme for the Adoption of the Acquis.

 

LFIP: Law on Foreigners and International Protection.

 

TPR: Temporary Protection Regulation.

 

SPSS: Statistical Package for the Social Sciences.

 

 

 

 

XIX

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

INTRODUCTION

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Background

 

Nowadays, the world is witnessing the highest number of displaced people ever recorded since the records have begun. According to the UNHCR (2015), the numbers of people who have been forced to flee their homes by the end 2014 have reached 59.5 million. This figure represents all of forced migrants either internationally displaced, who are about 21.3 million people, or within the borders of their home countries with about 38.2 million (UNHCR, 2015). Unfortunately, this number is increasing dramatically as long as violence, persecution, and human rights violations are still continuing and expanding, and as new crisis are erupting and pushing more and more people to flee their homes in search of refuge and safety. The number reached 8.3 million just in 2014 alone, with 2.3 million of them crossing international borders to other countries (UNHCR, 2015). The unaffordable situations in some countries push people to take a risk in attempt to reach to safer and more stable places. According to the UNHCR (2016), these attempts caused death or the unknown whereabouts of more than 10,000 women, men, and children while trying to pass the Mediterranean Sea to Europe since 2014 to the end of June 2016. During this time, more than 206,054 refugees and migrants crossed in 2014, about 1,015,078 in 2015, and 206,985 during the first 5 months of 2016. These figures show how critical and dangerous this situation has become to the extent that people prefer death and an uncertain future in places where they may be unwanted compared to staying in their homes.

 

 

 

I

 

Mainly, the recent crisis in the Syrian Arab Republic is the major reason of this dramatic increase of forced migrants worldwide, in addition to the other ongoing conflicts such as in Iraq, Ukraine, and South Sudan. Since the beginning of Syrian crisis in 2011 until the end of 2014, an estimated 7.6 million Syrian have become internally displaced and about 4 million have fled out of the country. This brought Syria to be the largest source of forced migration in the world, constituting about 19 percent of forced migrants worldwide. Other main sources of forced migrants are represented by Palestinian refugees with 5.1 million, Afghan with 3.7 million, and Colombian forced migrants with 6.4 million with the vast majority of them being internally displaced persons. Another thing that makes the forced migration crisis worse, in addition to the dramatically increasing number of displaced people, is the decrease in returnees. For instance, the number of returnees in 2014 was the lowest during last 5 years when just 126,800 refugees returned compared to the 414,600 returnees in 2013. As a result, there is a possibility of prolonging these humanitarian disasters as in the case of the Palestinians and Afghans (UNHCR, 2015a).

 

 

The vast majority of internationally forced migrants have fled to the surrounding countries because of the geographic closeness, shared cultural and social characteristics, and the possibility of easily entering as well as returning when it becomes possible. For instance, according to UNHCR (2015), 95 percent of Afghan refugees settle in Iran and Pakistan, the bordering countries of Afghanistan. Similar is true in the other cases like Palestinian, Iraqi, Ukrainian, Syrian, Somalis, and forced migrants from other source countries.

 

The movement of forced migrants from one geographical region to another usually has significant economic, social, cultural, geographical, environmental, and political effects on the migrants and their host communities. The effects may be either positive or negative. The degree and the depth of these impacts and their patterns either positively or negatively varies depending on the migrants‟ number, economic situation, social and cultural system, educational level, and demographic composition, as well as the economic, social, cultural, and demographical situations of the host communities which determine the extent of its ability to cope and adapt with the influxes of forced migrants as well as its role in mitigating the suffering of forced migrants.

 

2

 

 

 

2. Statement of the Problem

 

The influx of forced migrants across Turkish borders either legally or illegally fleeing their home countries due to the civil and sectarian conflicts, violence, and human rights violations in some bordered and regional countries of Turkey has become one of the biggest challenges that faces Turkey in the recent years. This challenge is big because of the constantly increasing number of them, the absence of any sign of a probable solution in their home countries which can stop their influxes or allow them to  return to their homes, the long process of resettling the asylum seekers in the third country, the high cost of meeting the forced migrants needs, and last but not least, the difficult situation of the migrants themselves which requires immediate intervention  by the government and non-government organizations in order to mitigate the negative economic and social impacts of displacement on their life. Those forced migrants have distributed themselves unequally throughout almost the whole country. The majority of them have settled in the bordered provinces with Syria where the vast majority of them came from, while others were sent to or preferred to settle in other parts of Turkey.

 

 

Many studies have been done upon forced migrants by scholars and governmental and non-governmental organizations. These studies were in majority done for humanitarian purposes in order to assess the legal, financial, and provided services‟ situation, in addition to determine their immediate humanitarian needs which have to be met by the government or the international community. The other part of these studies was in attempt to determine the economic impacts of the forced migrants on the host community. In most of these studies, the bordering provinces with Syria, where the majority of forced migrants are settling, were the study cases of these studies. However, other provinces that host less of the forced migrants were generally ignored in such a studies despite their potential impacts on these cities and on the displaced people in them.

 

In addition, among the previous studies, very few have attempted to determine the impact of forced migrants on the host community as well as the impacts of displacement on the displaced people in the same study. Unlike previous studies, in this

 

3

 

study the economic and social impacts of forced migration on both host community and forced migrants in Samsun City, as a specific geographical area, have been determined and evaluated.

 

Samsun, in spite of its far distance from the borders with Syria and Iraq, the main sources of forced migrants in Samsun and Turkey, has become a destination of thousands of forced migrants in the recent 4 years. As a result, studying the economic and social impacts of forced migration on Samsun‟s society and forced migrants in the city is considered unprecedented research. In addition to its importance in evaluating the forced migrants‟ situation and the planning for the city to cope with this new phenomena, it also can be generalized for the other cities that have similar economic, social, and geographical characteristics with Samsun.

 

 

3. Purpose of the study

 

The purpose of this study is to evaluate and reach a better understanding of the social, economic, and geographic impacts of forced migration on both the host community as well as the forced migrants in Samsun. As a city, Samsun has its own economic potentials, social structures, infrastructure capacity, and available services. At the same time, groups of forced migrants have different economic situations, different educational, social, and cultural characteristics, as well as different needs. Thus, through analyzing and understanding these aspects, the extent of the interactive relationships between forced migrants and host community can be determined as being characterized either by integration or disharmony. Then, measures can be taken and solutions can be addressed to improve the forced migrants‟ situations and to dispel the increasing concerns of the host community about the presence of the forced migrants.

 

4. Significance of the Study

 

This study addresses the issue of the forced migrants from Syria and Iraq in Turkey which is one of the biggest challenges that faces Turkey is recent history. In addition, this study investigates this issue from the geographical perspectives which makes it different from most of the previous studies which have addressed it from the economic, social, or legal perspectives. Otherwise, in this study as well as social and

 

4

 

economic impacts, the geographic perspectives also have been addressed by identifying and explaining the factors that affected the forced migrants‟ decisions of coming to Samsun and their distribution patterns in the city, as well as explains the ways that forced migration influences the character of Samsun.

 

The results of this study show and explain the ways that the forced migrants and host community have been effected by the forced migration. These results can provide policy makers in the city with the necessary information required to draw the city‟s plans to cope with the presence of forced migrants, as well as to deal with the potential of an increasing or decreasing number of forced migrants in the short and long term. Also, it helps to determine the capacity of the city to afford more of them, and in the light of these results the correct decision can be made.

 

 

5. The Hypothesis

 

The movement of forced migrants from Syria and Iraq and their presence in Samsun has had negative social and economic impacts on the forced migrants themselves.However, the presence of forced migrants in Samsun has had more negative than positive impacts on the social and economic structures of the host community as well.

 

6. Method

 

Since the main purpose of the study is to evaluate and gain a better understanding of the social and economic impacts of forced migration on the host community and forced migrants in Samsun, both quantitative and qualitative data have be collected from forced migrants, locals, officials, as well as national and international organizations which are working in relation to the stated issue.

 

In order to gather the required data, questionnaires and interviews have been conducted upon the proposed study society. Thus, forced migrants from the targeted countries, members of host community, and related organizations have been interviewed by different questions and questionnaires to collect the required data.

 

 

 

 

5

 

In the cases of forced migrants and members of the host community, family is the study unit. Hence, in each questionnaire, a group of people have been represented in attempt to present as much as possible of the samples‟ society in the study to make the results more reliable. In addition, considering the family as a study unit allows the study to represent some segments of the proposed society in which it is difficult to interview them otherwise, especially women and children.

 

As a complementary step of the interviews, the participant observation technique has been followed simultaneously while implementing the interviews. In this way, the results of the questionnaires and interviews are supported by observed phenomenon and events, as well as by the notes taken during and after the interviews.

 

 

The implementation of the questionnaires was done by face to face meetings with the interviewees and giving them the questionnaires to answer. In most of the cases, instead of asking the interviewee to answer by him or herself, I was asking the questions and writing down the answers and at the same time I was asking about the reasons that led them to answer these answers and writing their answers in a notebook in order to use them in analyzing and interpreting the answers.

 

In addition to the previous techniques of collecting data, and as a post-interview step, focus group discussions were held. Choosing the members of focus groups were done during the interviews and conducted after them. Focus group discussions included special cases and stakeholders from both forced migrants and the host community.

 

The analysis of the data has been done by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) program.

 

6.1. Sampling

 

In the light of an absence of any official accurate number of forced migrants in Samsun, as well as constant changes in that number because of their dynamic movement into and out of the city, I faced a significant challenge while trying to determine the size of the sample that I needed to conduct my research upon. However, since I am personally a foreigner in the city, during my three years of staying in Samsun I have come to know a lot of forced migrants. I deal with them somehow especially when they need help in translation because most don‟t know Turkish when they arrive. In addition,

 

6

 

I have many friends from the study society and by their help I could visit and meet many forced migrant members and families which provided me with a better understanding of their situations. Moreover, what helped me more is my working as a translator volunteer at non-government organization in Samsun, which concerns itself with a significant proportion of forced migrants in the city. This acquired me an understanding of not just the forced migrants‟ situation and their approximate number, but also an understanding of the host communities‟ reactions and how they have been affected by the existence of forced migrants in their society.

 

Thus, in selecting the individuals of the sample from the forced migrants, I have used the lists of forced migrants‟ families obtained from the non-government organizations which includes the names, addresses, sizes, ages, dates of arrival, origin places, and phone numbers of the households. Based on that, the sample‟s members have been randomly selected and the interviews have been undertaken. In addition, many interviews have been done in some cafes and restaurants that belong to forced migrant owners and constitute the places of their meetings.

 

 

In the sample of the host community, the sample‟s individuals were also selected randomly, while the size of the sample was determined based on the affordable cost and available time with taking in the consideration the size that make the finding more representative of the sample community and more reliable.

 

In the focus group discussion, the aim of the researcher is to examine how people respond to each other‟s views and build up a view out of the interaction that takes place within the group (Bryman, 2012). In order to achieve that, the selection of the participants was purposeful and was done while carrying out the interviews. In order to reach to more detailed information, answer questions that were raised while interviewing the people, look for an interpretation of the interviews results, and figure out the future trends of the forced migration process in Samsun and its currently and anticipated impacts, I selected the participants based on different criteria relevant to their duration of staying in Samsun, special cases which I have interviewed, type of jobs, and the recommended persons from others or from a certain organization.

 

 

 

 

7

 

For qualitative research, focus group sessions work better when they are recorded and subsequently transcribed (Bryman, 2012). In the focus group stage, I tried to record them in order to be more accurate, as well as to be able to focus as much as possible with the participants‟ answers and reactions, and to provide better moderation of the sessions. However, in some cases, some of the participants did not accept their voices to be recorded, so, instead, I was writing what they said down while the discussion was going on. In total, five focus group discussions were implemented. Three of them with forced migrants and two of them with locals.

 

The size of each group ranged between 4-5 participants from different ages and genders. I selected the vast majority of them as the head of the families because they are more representatives of their families and have more information based on their experiences and responsibilities. The others have been selected as special cases, in addition to those with a long duration of stay in Samsun.

 

 

Alongside with what has been mentioned above, I interviewed some non-government organizations which are concerned with this research issue. The questions were prepared before and during the implementation of the interviews and done as a second step based on the aims of the research in addition to the questions which were raised from the previous step.

 

All of the questionnaires and interviews‟ questions were prepared primarily in English and then translated into Arabic or Turkish according to the native language of the targeted groups, and then the interviews were held in these two languages.

 

6.2. Data collection

 

From 20^th of July 2015 until 1^st of May 2016, the required data has been collected. To better concentration during the field study phase, the interviews and focus group discussions for forced migrants and host community were conducted separately. First, I started interviewing the migrants in their homes, restaurants and cafes where they were used to spending their time, and in the office of a local non-government organization where I was volunteering as a translator. Meanwhile, I was selecting the participants and carrying out the focus group discussions. Subsequently, I started implementing the interviews and focus group discussion with members of the local

 

8

 

communities. Finally, during the last week I interviewed the spokesmen and workers in some humanitarian organizations which concern about migrants, and that was done in the offices of the selected organizations. However, with regard to the participant observation, I started five months before the interviews conducting began and continued during the whole research stages.

 

In total, 240 questionnaires have been implemented, 120 of them with the forced migrant respondents and all of them have been done by face to face meeting and were done as interviews. Accordingly, I was asking them the written questions in the questionnaire, writing down their answers, and discussing with them about their answers. In addition, 120 of them have been done with the respondents from the host community. In terms of the host community, just 40 of the questionnaires have been accompanied with discussions.

 

 

By following the sequence in conducting the field study, I could get valuable information since I was adding and adjusting the questions for the next stage‟s targeted group depending on the responses of the previous one.

 

7. Limitations and challenges

 

In process of preparing and implementing of the research, I faced many challenges which I had to find solutions for or look for an alternative ways to carry out the research successfully with high level of reliability and accuracy. My first challenge was the absence of accurate official statistics about the number, addresses, and families‟ composition in Samsun because of their dynamic movement into and out of the city and the presence of a significant portion of them who were not registered at the official institutions. Thus, I looked for alternative sources in order to get this required information which I would need to allow me to specify the sample society. As a solution to this challenge, I connected with the non-government organizations in Samsun which have lists of required information that they agreed to provide me with. The advantage of these lists is that they include information of the registered as well as unregistered forced migrants in Samsun.

 

 

 

 

9

 

My second challenge was the unavailability of resources and previous studies related to the research subject because the forced migrants in Samsun are a new phenomenon which began in 2012, just about 4 years ago. As a solution to this limitation in the resources, I prepared questionnaires which included wide range questions and engaged in long term participant observation to investigate their situation since their arrival until the time of interview. Moreover, while I was conducting the field study especially with forced migrants, I noticed that some of them were providing wrong answers for the questions relating to their current economic situation and their monthly income. To deal with this challenge that I noticed during the sample test stage, additional questions were added. Also, I started clarifying the purposes of the study before we started the interview and ensuring that it in no way was tied to any kind of aid or assistance that could be given depending upon their answers to the questionnaire.

 

 

The challenges mentioned above were the main challenges that I faced in doing my research.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 1

 

 

LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL OVERVIEW

 

 

 

 

 

 

1.1. Forced Migration and Refugee, Definition and Distinction

 

Recently, the term “forced migration” has spread widely and has become one of the most commonly used terms both in the field of migration studies, as well as in mainstream society. This is due to the unprecedented numbers of people who are being forced to leave their homes every day, either internally or internationally, while fleeing the continuing crises in many regions of the world. These flowing waves of people have gotten the attention of governments, researchers, organizations, and publics because of the widespread, deep, and significant effects that these waves are carrying on both hosts and migrants, as well as on sending and receiving countries. These tremendous numbers of forced migrants include various groups and every group can be classified under different categories depending on the reasons for migration, the geographic borders of the movement, and the legal situation of the migrants in the host country, all of which varies from one country to another.

 

According to the IASFM‟s definition, forced migration is a general term that refers to the movements of refugees and internally displaced people (those displaced by conflicts), as well as people displaced by natural or environmental disasters, chemical or nuclear disasters, famine, or development projects. However this definition is not the only one. Many researchers and organizations try to define the forced migration in order

 

 

11

 

to determine who are the forced migrants from the legal, political, geographical or humanitarian perspective.

 

Hence, forced migrants are defined as “persons who flee or are obliged to leave their homes or places of habitual residence because of events threatening to their lives or safety” (Martin, 2000:4). IOM also defines forced migrants as a person or people who migrate “to escape persecution, conflict, repression, natural and human-made disasters, ecological degradation, or other situations that endanger their lives, freedom or livelihood” (IOM: United Nations 2000:8). Betts considers forced migration as “movement that takes place under significant structural constraints that result from an existential threat” (Betts, 2009). In addition, Peterson has pointed out that the term“forced migration” refers to what happens when people have no choice but to move (Peterson, 1969), such as when “people who have been forced to flee their homes and seek refuge elsewhere” based on Castles (2003).

 

 

In spite of the relative closeness in the previous definitions of forced migration, there is a continuous controversy about the distinction between forced migration and migration in general or what can be called a voluntary migration. This controversy is due to the difficulties in determining the reasons for movement or the extent of choice in making the movement decision.

 

According to Van Hear (1998), voluntary migration is generally motivated by economic pull and push factors while searching for economic opportunities. Forced migration or involuntary migration, in contrast, refers to the movement of people who are fleeing their homes for their physical security in order to protect their physical well-being from an expected threat. A similar definition is provided by Betts (2009), demonstrating that forced migration generally relates to wars, conflicts, and persecution, whereas voluntary migration is a movement that is motivated economically, as well as by factors of employment, study, and family reunification (IOM: United Nations 2000).

 

In terms of choices availability, Turton (2003), argues that the people, even in forced migration, may have some kind of choices about whether to move or not, and also when, where, and how to move. He states that the way to overtake this difficulty is to look at the forced migrants as „ordinary people‟ or „purposive actors‟ who had emerged

 

12

 

throughout specific social, political and historical situations. Likewise, Speare (1974) argues that the involuntary migration occurs only when the person is transported physically when he or she has no choice to avoid moving. Except that, even when there is an immediate threat to life, the migrant still has a range of choice because there is an option to flee to another part of the country where the persecution may be avoided (Speare, 1974).

 

Since there is a potential presence of an overlap or combination between voluntary and forced migration, making the distinction between them and classifying them based on migration for a single motivation becomes a very difficult task. Hence the term “mixed migration” has emerged. Thus, as mentioned above, when the voluntary migrants make economically motivated movement decisions they may have limited choices or moving may be the only choice available. Therefore, for example, refugees or asylum seekers who move in order to flee the persecution or conflict in their region may also be motivated by the potentials of improving their livelihood circumstances (Van Hear, 2011).

 

 

Accordingly, the term “forced migration” is wide enough to include more categories of involuntary migrants. This differentiation and diversity among the migrants makes using the term “forced migration” more suitable and more expressive of the current case than the term “refugee”. In 1951 the term “refugee” became a legal concept based on the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol which defined it as “A person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it” (UN General Assembly, 1951). According to Turton (2003), this definition has restricted the term of refugee to be the name of a much narrower category of people with special rights in international law and with a special call on the assistance of the international community.

 

 

13

 

Castles (2005) argues that, despite of the popular usage that tends to call all forced migrants „refugees‟, the legal term of it is a narrow category and it cannot cover the majority of forced migrants who have migrated internally within the borders of their country, or internationally, for reasons different than in the refugee status definition.

 

Forced migrants, as a term, according to Turton (2006) includes refugees, internally displaced people, development-induced displaced people, and any person forced to leave his or her home as a result of an external shock or, in an economic term, an externality such as natural disasters. Betts (2009), has pointed out that all of these categories are shared in occurring as a result of external threats which restricts the possibility of staying in their homes.

 

 

Consequently, the term „forced migrant‟ has come to be used as a term which includes a wider class than the term of “refugee” which represents a restricted legal category (Turton, 2003). Hence, refugees are considered as a subset of forced migrants (Martin 2000).

 

1.2. Geography and migration studies

 

The discipline of geography is complex and integrating that works as a bridge between the natural and human sciences. Human geography is about people, place, space, landscape, and the environment. In additions, it is about how these are represented; negotiated, embodied, and performed. Generally, it particularly includes the study of spatial patterns such as settlement or of uneven development, and spatial processes including migration. Thus, by geographic studies, an obvious explanatory framework for a potential theorization of migration can be identified. The main factor of migration is the spatially unequal distribution of wealth, opportunity, and privilege. Thus, the effects on the uneven development can be either positive or negative (Castles and Miller, 2009: 21–27).

 

Since geography is a wide and integrating discipline, it is fragmented into many sub-disciplines that can be overlapped with each other. On the human side of the discipline, there are economic geography, political geography, urban geography, population geography, cultural geography, to name but a few of the diverse subfields,

 

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each of which contributes its own particular insight into migration processes (Blacket al., 2011).

 

Geographers have contributed significantly to theorizing migration. For example, Ravenstein, Zelinsky, Mabogunje, and Hägerstrand are four geographers who have made significant contributions to theorising migration. The approaches of those geographers have achieved a kind of legislation status, measured by references to their work in textbooks on migration (King, 2012)

 

According to Hardwick (2008), geographers are primarily interested in spatial relationships. In migration research, their attention is therefore directed, as to study the relations between employment patterns and residential patterns, the formation and development of ethnic enclaves, and the changing segregation patterns of various ethnic and racial groups.

 

 

Brettell and Hollified (2008) pointes that geographers, like anthropologists, explore the transnational and diasporic dimensions of migration, as well as the role of social networks in connecting populations and individuals across space, but as Hardwick (2008), says “geographers put space-time relationships at the center of their theorizing about transnationalism, diasporas, and networks. Space and place are also central to the geographical recasting of assimilation theory. Finally, even in the study of race and whiteness, geographers ask how time and place influence the way in which race is constructed”

 

Russell King (2012), argues that there is a relative silence of economic geographers on issues of migration. Kings points out “Despite the cultural turn, much migration remains at base an economic phenomenon, driven by economic motives and forces, linked to economic systems, and with powerful economic effects–on the destination places of migrants, migrant source areas, and the migrants themselves”

 

As well, since the forced migration studies have emerged, geographers also have involved actively in these studies side by side with researchers from other disciplines. During the past 30 years, rapid progress in the field of refugees and forced migration studies have made by the researchers from the perspective of sociology, geography,

 

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political science and international relations, anthropology, and international law (Chatty and Marfleet, 2013).

 

Thus, migration and forced migration issues were and still among the main parts of the geographers interests and this research is an extension of these studies.

 

1.3. Main Categories of Forced Migration

 

 

There are many types of forced mıgration that should be mentioned for better understanding of the term “forced migration”. The Table 1 shows the main categories of forced migration.

 

 

Table 1: The main categories of forced migration.

 

	Refugee
	Asylum seeker
	People-trafficking
	Internally displaced persons (IDPs)
Forced migration
	Development displaces
	Environmental displaces
	Disaster displaces
	Returnees

 

1.3.1. Refugees

 

According to the 1951 United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is a person residing outside his or her country of nationality who is unable or unwilling to return because of a „well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a political social group, or political opinion‟(UN General Assembly, 1951).One hundred forty five UN member states have signed the 1951 Convention (UNHCR 2015). However, most forced migrants in the world do not fulfil the Convention criteria. In addition to the 1951 Convention, the 1969 Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention defines a refugee as anyone

 

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compelled to leave his or her home country "owing to external aggression, occupation, foreign domination or events seriously disturbing public order in either part or the whole of his country or origin or nationality." By this definition, the people who flee war are included. While many African states follow this definition, most Northern states do not.

 

The 1951 Convention had geographic and temporal limitation since it limited “refugees” to persons in Europe who became refugees as a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951 (UNHCR, 2015). However, the need for expanding the Convention to allow refugees from all around the world to apply for refugee status has become necessary due to the emerging of new waves of refugees who cannot meet the required criteria to receive protection under the Convention (Bacaian, 2011). Therefore, these limitations have been removed by the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, which have been signed by 146 UN member states. However, some countries have kept the geographical limitation, such as Turkey. The signed states that are part of the Convention undertake to protect refugees and to not return them to a country where they may be persecuted. This may require thesigned statesto allow refugees to enter and to grant them temporary or permanent residence status. Migrants recognized as refugees are often better off than other forced migrants because they have a clear legal status and they are under the protection of the UNHCR (UNHCR, 2015).The number of refugees has increased rapidly, and by the end of 2014 reached 19.5 million worldwide. Syrian, Afghan, and Somali refugees constitute more than 53 percent of world‟s refugee population, and approximately 86 percent of refugees are hosted in the developing countries.

 

 

As Syria has become the largest source of refugees, Turkey has become the largest refugee-host country in the world. Children (less than 18 years old) constitute about 51 percent of the world‟s refugee population,having grown from 41 percent in 2009 (UNHCR 2015). António Guterres, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said in describing the unprecedented increase in the refugees and forced migrants in general : “We are witnessing a paradigm change, an unchecked slide into an era in which the scale of global forced displacement, as well as the response required, is now clearly dwarfing anything seen before” ( UNHCR 2015 ).

 

 

 

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1.3.2. Asylum Seekers

 

Asylum seekers are “individuals who have crossed an international border in search of protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention, but whose claim for refugee status has not yet been determined” (FMO). According to Turton (2003), since the political conflicts are usually accompanied with violence, economic problems, and human rights violations, the asylum seekers category has evolved because of the difficulty in the distinction between economically motivated migrants and people who are compelled to flee for political reasons.Determination procedures may prolong in many cases for several years.Usually, they do not have the right to work and during that they may live in a type of uncertainty or inactivity.

 

 

During 2014 and due to the deterioration in humanitarian situations, caused by the ongoing conflicts and civil wars in many countries, more than1.66 million applications for asylum or refugee status were submitted to the States or the UNHCR, which was considered the highest level ever recorded and shows a 54% increase in the applications compared to 2013. The Russian Federation, due to the Ukrainian crisis, received the largest number of applications in 2014 with about 274,700 registered applications, and the vast majority of them, about 99%, were lodged in Ukraine. Germany, with 173,000 applicants, was considered the second largest receiver of asylum seekers in 2014, followed by the United States of America with 121,200 and Turkey with 87,000 (UNHCR 2015).

 

1.3.3. Human Trafficking

 

According to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocols Thereto, human trafficking is “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation” (UNODC).

 

 

 

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In the case of human trafficking, the profits that the traffickers get are from offering their sexual services or labour in the country of destination. The trafficked individual might be physically kept from leaving, or be bound by obligation or risk of violence to themselves or their family (FMO).

 

1.3.4. Internally displaced persons (IDPs)

 

So far, there is no legal definition for IDPs. However, they are defined according to the UNHCR (1997a:2) as “persons who, as a result of persecution, armed conflict or violence, have been forced to abandon their homes and leave their usual place of residence, and who remain within the borders of their own country.”

 

IDPs‟ number, as well as the refugees and asylum seekers, is still increasing and by the end of 2014 reached about 32.8 million which is unprecedented since 1989 (UNHCR 2015a). The year 2014 witnessed about 8.3 million new displaced persons. The majority of them were in Iraq, Syrian Arab Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ukraine, South Sudan, and Pakistan (UNHCR 2015a).

 

1.3.5. Development-Induced Displacement (DID)

 

Displacement of inhabitants as a result of development projects is known as “Development-Induced Displacement”and it happens when people are compelled to move as a result of policies and projects implemented to supposedly enhance „development‟ (FMO, 2012).

 

The construction of development projects, such as industrial centers, infrastructure projects, the extraction of natural resources, or urban restorationusually requires applying a direct control by a developer over lands already inhabited by other people. Uprooting and displacing the original inhabitants is a frequent outcome of such programs (Stanley, 2004).

 

This type of displacement is different than refugees, asylum seekers and internally displaced persons because of the differences in the reasons and consequences. Their governments are usually taking care of them and planning for their resettling in new places. In addition, they don‟t have a real threat to their lives. Last but not least, in some cases, they get compensation for their lands and homes from the government or from the companies.

 

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However, it may have serious negative impacts on the displaced. These negative impacts can be landlessness, joblessness, homelessness, marginalization, food insecurity, increased morbidity and mortality, loss of access to common property and community services, social disintegration, and violation of human rights (Robinson 2003:11-13)

 

1.3.6. Environmental and Disaster Displaced People

 

Many researchers have attempted to define environmentally displaced people. One of these definitions considers them as “those people who have been forced to leave their traditional habitat, temporarily or permanently, because of a marked environmental disruption (natural and/or triggered by people) that jeopardized their existence and/or seriously affected the quality of their life” (el-Hinnawi, 1985:4).

 

 

Usually, most of environmentally displaced people stay inside the borders of their homeland. They are known also as disaster refugees and include the displaced people as a result of environmental changes such as land degradation, deforestation, global warming, and desertification, as well as because of natural disasters such as volcanoes, earthquakes, landslides, and floods(FMO, 2012).

 

1.3.7. Returnees

 

Returnee is the term used by the international community to identify a person “who was a refugee, but who has recently returned to his/her country of origin”. Defining a returnee is thus applicable on a person‟s prior refugee status (OHCHR, 2016:205).

 

When a refugee decides to go home, it is usually because the threat or danger that had caused him/her to leave his/her place of habitual abode has significantly diminished or the danger in the place of refuge has become greater than the risk of returning home. Often return may be prompted by the end of a civil war or the replacement of a previous repressive government. The term “returnee” is a descriptive term that acknowledges the fact that returning refugees are in need of certain assistance, and sometimes protection, during an interim period until they have re-integrated to their communities. Defining the period of time in which a person can continue to be identified as a returnee is difficult and will be different according to each specific situation (OHCHR, 2016:205).

 

 

 

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A refugee‟s “return” might take many months or years. When re-entering a country, a returnee might find it impossible to travel immediately to his or her home region. While waiting for an opportunity to return home returnees need to have access to food, water, shelter, health and education facilities, among others. “Long-term” returnees, living in a community other than their own, can thus face many difficulties, and can find themselves in a situation identical to that of internally displaced persons (OHCHR, 2016:206)

 

1.4. Impacts of forced migrants

 

 

Forced migrationis believed to have both negative and positive effects on both the forced migrants and the host community. These impacts can be economic, social, political, demographic and environmental which affects the migrants and their hosts in the short and long term, especially if the staying of the forced migrants has protracted. When the forced migrants arrive in the host place, they immediately start to compete for scarce resources such as water, food, housing, and health services. Their existence in the society increases the demands for public services such as education and health services, as well as transportation, and water supply. Natural resources also may be affected by their existence in some cases. Solving the forced migrants crisis does not mean that their negative impacts will be solved too.However, these impacts may be felt even a long after solving the migrants‟ problem (UNHCR, 1997b).

 

The movement of forced migrants and their existence in a new country has serious effects on the migrants themselves. Especially, because in many cases, they have to leave their homes without the ability to take anything with them. In addition, they lose their jobs and in some cases, they also lose their properties because of the destruction of confiscation. Moreover, their skillsmay not be useful in the new community. Furthermore, the social and cultural differences constitute significant barriers. However, the movement can carry positive impacts on the forced migrants as well.

 

 

Many factors are intervening to determine the nature of the impacts, whether positive or negative, such as the economic policies of the host country, the nature of the relationship between forced migrants and locals, and the interaction between rural and

 

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urban society within the host community (World Bank, 2010:6). Moreover, Chambers (1986) divided the affected categories by refugees into losers and winners and determined them as summarized by Whitaker (1999:2) “refugees are assumed to have a different impact on diverse classes, genders, sectors and regions within the host country, but little empirical evidence has been done on this issue”.

 

In this part some economic and social effects will be mentioned and examples from different studies in different places, periods, issues, and done by different methods will be provided to give a general idea about the potential effects and to show the role of the time, geographic area, economic level, and social characteristics in determining the extent and nature of these effects.

 

 

1.4.1. Economic impacts

 

Forced migrants may have significant economic impacts on the host community which can be both burdens and benefits for the locals. The presence of forced migrants leads to an increase in the competition with the locals for resources, infrastructures, and public services such as housing, employment, education, medical facilities, and energy. In addition, raising the prices in the market may occur due to the increased demands.Furthermore, their needs for accommodation can raise the rent and house prices. These effects may be in favor of the local traders and landlords; however, they affect poor people and those on a fixed income negatively (UNHCR, 1997b). In addition, the presence of forced migrants can contribute to the economic development of the hosting region by providing cheap labor and enhancing the trading and farming (Grindheim, 2013: 18).

 

These effects have been identified in many studies that were done in order to determine the economic effects of refugees on locals.

 

1.4.1.1. Labor Market

 

Examining the effects of refugees in the region of Kagera in Tanzania on the host community points out that their existence has both negative and positive impacts unequally distributed among locals. The study finds that the increase in the supply of unskilled workers caused by the existence of refugees has constituted a big competition with the local agricultural workers and led to many locals losing their jobs, causing a

 

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decrease in their welfare. On the contrary, self-employed farmers have benefited from the cheap labor in the market offered by refugees. Workers in other sectors have also gotten job opportunities in jobs related to meeting the needs of refugees(Maystadt and Verwimp, 2014)

 

The large influx of Syrian refugees into Jordan and Turkey has also limited the opportunities of local unskilled agricultural workers to get a job and caused a noticeable decrease in their salaries (FAO, 2013:36). According to Ceritoglu et al. (2015:23-24), the existence of Syrian forced migrants in Turkey caused competition with natives for job opportunities.Additionally, the study finds that the existence of forced migrants has significantly affected the employment outcomes of locals, especially in the informal employment sector, which witnessed a noticeable decrease more than formal employment because it is almost the only sector which Syrian forced migrants can get since they are officially not allowed to work. At the same time, the study states that there is a slight effect on the wages. Similarly, according toaccording toILO Regional Office for the Arab States (2013:9-10),the hard situation of refugees in Lebanon and their urgent need for any income source has led to high competition on job opportunities because the refugee workers are willing to work for a low salary and for a longer time without insurance which makes them more preferred for the local employers. In addition, this competition led to a decreased wage rate and limited the job opportunities for locals. Furthermore, the daily wage has decreased by 60% in the Lebanese labor market because of the competition between locals and refugees for job opportunities (FAO, 2013:36).

 

 

Friedbergand Hunt (1995),argues that the immigrants may have more positive impacts on the economy of the receiving community. They can work as a supplement to the locals‟ skills, cause an increase in thecommunity‟s wellbeing, and carry many benefits for it. These benefits can be more than the assumed negative economic impacts that can be represented in replacing the locals‟ jobs and dropping the wages. They find that there is no noticeable decrease in the local employment resulted from increasing immigration and even in the case of doubling the number of immigrants several times, the impact on the local employment will remain insignificant.

 

 

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Likewise, Fakih and Ibrahim (2016), by examining the impacts of the Syrian refugee influx into Jordan on the labor market, they find that the existence of refugees does not have important effects on the employment outcomes in Jordan. They interpret this conclusion as a result of governmental policies that keep the refugees out of the formal sector, scarcity of skilled and educated labor among refugees and restrictions on their movement in the country. Moreover, Alix-Garcia and Saah (2010),find that the forced migrants are probably getting jobs in the informal employment sector, not in the formal one (Alix-Garcia and Saah 2010). This variation in the effects shows the role of the background and the economic characteristics of the refugees in their impacts on prices and makes it important to study these characteristics to understand the way they affect the host community.

 

Meeting the care and maintenance needs of forced migrants leads to an increase in the public expenditures which cannot be compensated and may affect the government‟s abilities to invest in the social and infrastructure sectors (World Bank, 2010:6). On the other hand, the presence of forced migrants may carry economic benefits for the locals. Their presence can lead to developing the region and locals may benefit from the aid and assistance projects in the region which may address more employment opportunities for them. In addition, the assistances may include equipment supply, capacity building, and related training componentsUNHCR (1997). Moreover, the forced migrants may constitute a significant source of skilled and educated people that can benefit the locals, such as in the case of the business contribution of well-educated Iraqi refugees in Amman, Jordan (Crisp et al, 2009).

 

The study of the economic effects of Syrian refugees in Turkey, which have been conducted by Öztürkler and Göksel, (2015:17-21), and examined their effects on the Turkish cities that have common borders with Syria shows that the existence of refugees in large numbers in these cities has led to many negative impacts on the native locals. For instance, it caused high rates of job loss, increasing the possibility of losing a job, increasing the unemployment rate in the informal sector, rising prices of food, and high percentage increasing in rent prices.

 

The displacement has affected the economic situation of refugees strongly and has caused significant changes in their livelihood conditions. Many studies have been

 

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done to determine these effects which can help in taking measures that can mitigate the negative aspects of these impacts. ILO Regional Office for the Arab States has implemented an assessment to assess the economic situation of Syrian refugees in Lebanon by focusing on their employment profile. The assessment points out that the unemployment rate among Syrians is so high despite the fact that a high percentage of them are of working age. The assessment also shows that the refugee workers are working generally in agriculture and construction sectors with low income and without health insurance. The vast majority of them are working informally without a work contract and have an irregular job (ILO Regional Office for the Arab States, 2013:8-9). Likewise, the assessment of Syrian refugees in Jordan shows that just a small part of them could find a job while the majority of them are relying on humanitarian aid to meet their basic needs (Un Ponte Per, 2012:6). In contrast, Sarvimaki et al. (2009:28-29), has examined the long term effects of displacement of almost 430,000 people from the eastern part of Finland after the Second World War.The study finds that the displacement generally affected the longterm income of forced migrants and their economic outcomes positively. In addition, the displacement strengthened the effectiveness of the resource distribution after the war.

 

 

1.4.1.2. Remittances

 

Another significant benefit for locals is the ability to reach to a transitional resource like remittances and the social network provided by other refugees and co-nationals living abroad(Jacobsen, 2002:100). For example, the Somalian economy is heavily affected by the remittances that have been sent home by Somalian migrants and refugees (Van Hear, 2004:15). These remittances are used to meet the livelihood needs (World Bank, 2010: 8).

 

In the case of protracted displacement, depending on remittances is becoming the main way to escape from poverty and to meet the increasing life needs where there is no chance of getting a good job for many of them. Somalian refugees in Kenya and Liberian refugees in Ghana are depending significantly on receiving remittances from their relatives who are living and working abroad. These remittances are benefiting, in addition to the receivers, the other people in the community(Crisp, 2003:22). These

 

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received remittances are being spent in the local market and contribute significantly in financing the developing countries(Dahal, 2014).

 

In some developing countries, remittances can constitute up to 25% of the GDP, as in the case of Nepal in 2012 (World Bank, 2013). According to Dahal (2014), inflows of remittances into Nepal have affected the financial development and human capital accumulation positively which can contribute to the economic growth of the country and have played a significant role in increasing investment and saving in Nepal. Likewise, Le (2011:16-17) has conducted a study to determine the way that the inflow of remittances affects the development process of developing countries. The study shows that the remittances contribute to the economic development of developing countries in different ways. First of all, they constitute an alternative source of income for the recipients who do not have any other sufficient source of income. In addition, they provide them with the capital needed for investment in the local market. These contributions of the remittances according to Le make the received remittances an important factor in the financial development and they participate positively in productivity and support the economic growth of the developing countries. This literature about the impacts of remittances makes it clear that to understand the effects of the existence of migrants on the local economy, the remittances should be studied and taken into account.

 

 

1.4.1.3. Living costs and other economic impacts

 

The influx of large or small numbers of forced migrants to new areas can cause effects on the prices of goods, food, rental, and other items. These effects vary based on the economic situations of the migrants and the host area. Whitaker (1999) examined the socioeconomics of the refugees‟ presence on the locals in western Tanzania. In her study she stated that the sudden presence of refugees has affected the locals in both negative and positive ways. In the agriculture sector, the presence of refugees caused rising prices of agricultural products and led to famine in the area. On the other hand, they provided villagers with cheap agricultural labor. By using that labor, both cultivation and production of the locals have increased and farmers have doubled the size of their cultivated lands. For example, production of bananas increased from 396 metric tons in

 

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1993 to 651 metric tons in 1996. Another impact was on the economic opportunities. The presence of refugees led to business and trade thrives in the host area and enlarged the locals‟ market area. Conversely, Whitaker mentioned that the refugees have affected locals‟ access to environmental resources and led to environmental degradation. Moreover, she stated that the cost of living has increased and houses have became more expensive due to the refugees‟ presence in western Tanzania

 

Moreover, the refugee inflows into western Tanzania have caused an increase in the prices of agricultural goods because of the increasing demand for these products. This increasing of prices constitutes a problem for the local consumers who have to pay more to get the same product and benefits the producers who can produce more since there is a high demand and sell them at a high price. Another noteworthy point is that the effects on the prices vary depending on the source of the refugees(Alix-Garcia & Saah, 2010:21)

 

 

In addition, in Turkey, some Governorates on the borders with Syria have received a large number of refugees up to 30% of its population, which led to an important increase in the goods and rent prices (FAO, 2013:37)

 

1.4.2. Social Impacts

 

The movements of forced migrants and their existence in new communities has many social impacts on the locals and migrants. Social stability, public services, and people‟s cultures and traditions can be affected by these movements.

 

1.4.2.1. Social Stability

 

The ethnic balance of the host community, social conflict, and delivery of social services in the host community may be affected by the presence of refugees (World Bank 2010:10-11).The UNHCR argues that there is a high potential of peaceful co-existence and interaction relations between refugees and locals if the forced migrants are from the same cultural and linguistic group(UNHCR, 2007). For instance, the presence of the Somalian refugees in Dadaab refugee complex in Kenya‟s North Eastern Province who are mostly sharing the same language, culture, and religion with the locals and often related by clan and sub-clan ties has led the locals to accept the massive influx of

 

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forced migrants and they have been given access to natural resources, in addition to the incorporation of local pastoral drop-outs into the camps. However, it is difficult or may be impossible for the refugees from minority clans to access the locals‟ resources (Enghoff et al.2010:24). In addition, problems can happen when there is a traditional animosity between hosts and refugees. For example, when the Kosovo-Albanian refugees were forced to move to Macedonia in the late 1990s, ethnic tension happened between Albanians and Serbs in Macedonia(Pini, 2008).

 

Moreover, UNHCR (1997) indicated that the presence of forced migrants is claimed to increase the security and social problems such as crime rates, theft, prostitution, and alcoholism.

 

 

1.4.2.2. Public Services and Social Development

 

Usually, forced migrants are assumed to attract international organizations to fund the social services which will be beneficial for the host community too. For example, conducting farming activities, road construction, and income generating activities through the Special Program for Refugee Affected Area (SPRRA) in Tanzania (1997-2003) have benefited the host communities as well as the refugees (World Bank, 2010:11). Similarly, in studying the social impacts of Somalian refugees in Kenya on the host community, the social services were found to be more concentrated in the host area compared to what would be expected in the area with the same situation and more attractive for the investment social infrastructure from humanitarian agencies (Enghoff et al. 2010:37). According to UNHCR (1997), poverty and the high rate of unemployment among refugees, especially the young men, may cause a rise in such problems which would be expected in the presence of a new population size. Additionally, the presence of forced migrants in the host area may cause feelings of inequality between the hosts and migrants which can lead to social conflicts. Supplying the host area with sufficient social services can be the way to alleviate these conflicts or tensions and can pave the way for developing the area and turning the crisis into an opportunity(World Bank, 2010:18).

 

 

 

 

 

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1.4.2.3. Education

 

Refugees‟ presence has effects on local education. These effects can be negative and constitute a real challenge for the education process in the host area. In addition, forced migrants can affect the educational process positively, especially when there is a real response from the government and the international organizations to deal with the issue. For example, the presence of Syrian forced migrants in Lebanon caused further pressure on the already deficient education services. The increasing number of refugees is expected to increase the student numbers and the ratio of students to teachers (ILO Regional Office for the Arab States, 2013:19-21). On the other hand, at the Buduburam refugee camp in Ghana, locals‟ education has been affected positively by the presence of refugees. Their presence led to the construction of new schools which enabled more local students to access education services (Boamah-Gyau, 2008:42)

 

 

The social conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanon were assessed in a survey conducted by the Beirut Research and Innovation Center. The assessment shows that the majority of refugees in Lebanon were living in difficult social situations. The education process of refugee children was affected negatively and just one-quarter of the children in school age were enrolled in schools. The inability of the families to afford the school costs and child labor are cited as the main reasons for not sending children to school (Oxfam/Beirut Research and Information Center, 2013:30-31).

 

1.4.2.4. Healthcare

 

In addition, health services can be affected by forced migrants‟ presence. Their impacts can be positive or negative, or both. Their presence can push the government and non-government organizations to create and increase the medical facilities in the area which will benefit the locals as well as the migrants. However, if there is a delay or shortening in providing these facilities, the existed medical facilities will be under pressure and fail to meet the medical needs of both locals and forced migrants. Furthermore, the new life conditions after the movements can affect the health situation of the migrants and cause new diseases among them. Thus, the health care is affected differently by forced migration depending on the associated conditions for the movement of forced migrants. The presence of refugees in Buduburam refugee camp

 

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according to Boamah-Gyau (2008:37-38), caused a significant improvement in access to health services by establishing a clinic by UNHCR which is used by locals as well as refugees. The establishment of the clinic led to creating new job opportunities for locals which was represented by the fact that the vast majority of the clinic staff are locals. In contrast, the massive inflow of forced migrants from Syria to Lebanon has affected the health services negatively and caused a high pressure on the clinics and on the government‟s ability to cope with increasing demands.

 

The assessment of the social conditions of Syrian refugees in Lebanon states that health services also became under pressure, especially in the border areas(Oxfam/Beirut Research and Information Center, 2013:39).

 

 

1.4.2.5. Social Development

 

Refugees in western Tanzania, according to Whitaker (1999) have converted the host area from a neglected area to become the main destination for visitors and workers, and acquired more importance within the dynamics of domestic politics. The social relations have been found to be extensive, represented by mutual visits and sharing the social occasions. On the other hand, many negative effects were found to affect the local community due to the presence of forced migrants. Social problems such as drunkenness, prostitution, sexual promiscuity, and mischief, as well as high level of crimes have emerged and increased in the host area.This led to feelings of insecurity in the host community, especially in the border areas, which caused some locals to escape and became migrants themselves.

 

1.4.2.6. Gender and age-based effects

 

The movement of forced migrants carries impacts on the gender role because of the serious changes that can occur to the families. Because of the movements or its reasons such as the dispersion of the family, loss or disability of the head of the family, and the increasing needs for money, which push the women and take a responsibility of being the head of the family. In addition, the women of the host community can also be affected by the presence of the forced migrants. For example, Whitaker (1999), in his case study, examines the variation in the effects of refugees on the different groups of

 

 

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host community according to their gender, age, class, and strategies devised by the hosts themselves. The presence of refugees affected the men and women of the host community differently and impacted their economic and social roles. His study reveals that the women were less benefited from the presence of the refugees andsuffered more from the environmental degradation which led some men to share the tasks of collecting firewood and water with their wives. Thus, women lost control of the household resources and revenues of crops. In addition, wives became under the threat of the refugee brides who were considered less costly and more available. However, the impacts on women were not just negative. Whitaker's study reveals that many women were able to benefit from the new opportunities. The benefits of women were represented by starting small-scale businesses such as restaurants and stores selling handicrafts like woven mats. Additionally, the availability of farm labor represented by refugees enabled some women to reduce their work hours in the farms in order to start another work.

 

In terms of the effects of refugees‟ presence depending on the hosts‟ ages, he found that the youthbenefited from the business and job opportunities created by refugees; however, elderly hosts were not able to use the opportunities like youth hosts except in limited ways such as exchanging crops like bananas for their needs (Whitaker 1999).

 

In Jordan, the assessment has conducted to understand the social effects of displacement on refugees, especially on women and girls. The assessment discloses that the early marriage rate is high among refugees and not enough consciousness exists about its physical consequences. Moreover, the participation of women in social life and their access to the social services are limited because of the restrictions on their movability. A significant percentage of children in school age are skiving the schools. Those children are engaging in the informal labor market and being exploited by the employers by working long hours for a low salary and sometimes working in dangerous sectors(Al-Twaijri, 2013:29, 35).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CHAPTER 2

 

 

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND LEGAL

 

 

FRAMEWORK

 

 

 

 

 

 

2.1. Historical Brief on Migration in Turkey

 

During the Ottoman Empire period, the empire witnessed many migration movements. The Ottoman authority was following the open door policy in dealing with the immigrants who were coming from different parts of the world for different reasons. One of the reasons was the empire‟s aim to increase the population which was believed to contribute to the economic development and strengthen the defense abilities of the empire. In addition, as a humanitarian, religious, and political attitude, the empire accepted to receive massive numbers of Muslims and non-Muslims refugees who have deportedfrom different places. For instance, receiving the Jews and Muslim refugees who fled from Spanish Inquisition. Furthermore, asylum seekers from different European countries such as from Hungarian and Poles asylum seekers were accepted to enter into the Ottoman lands and settle there many times during the Ottomans time (Latif, 2002:4).

 

Additionally, during the 19^th century, many forced migrant waves had fled into Turkey such as Bulgarian immigrants. Tatar immigrants also had to leave from Crimea into Ottoman Empire when it became under the Russian control and the Muslims there were forced to leave. The same situation in the case of Circassians from the Caucasus

 

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and the descendants of Turk who had to flee from Balkans when the Ottoman Empire collapsed (Latif, 2002:6). During the beginning of the 20^thcentury, the continuous gradually collapse of the Ottoman Empire had accompanied with massive waves of forced migrants from many former Ottoman regions into Anatolia. Simultaneously, a large influx of people escaped or forced to move out of the Ottoman territories such as when almost half million Greek Orthodox Christians fled after the Greek army was defeated in 1922. Later, as a part of population exchange treatment between Turkey and Greece, about 1.3 million Greek had to move to Greece and about half million Turks left Greece to Turkey. In the followed years, many new agreements including the exchange of people have been made between Turkey and Balkan states. The Armenian minority also have mostly derived out of Turkish borders (Içduygu and Sert, 2009)

 

 

One of the reasons that motivated Turkey to accept the new migrants was the long time of wars that the Ottoman Empire witnessed in its last decade which caused a large loss of lives among the population and constituted a real threat to the economic and social development process and exposed the country to the external threats. To confront these challenges and to be able to protect the country, Turkey had to follow a new population policy that can increase the population (Arı, 1992). Accepting and offering to receive the forced migrants from former Ottoman regions in Balkans and Crimea was part of the Turkish new population policy as a way to compensate the loss of the population (Duman, 2009). In addition, the Turkish government was trying to create a homogeneous sense to form a nation-state and applied that by preferring to accept the immigrants who are Muslim Turk descendants or able to integrate easily into the Turkish identity. This policy represented by accepting around 1.6 million immigrants to be settled in Turkey during the period from the establishment of the Republic of Turkey till 1997.

 

The inflows of immigrants into Turkey have continued during the first decades after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey in 1923, especially in the period between First and Second World wars. The resources of these immigrants were in addition to the Former Ottoman regions, German, Austrian, and European Jews who escaped the Nazism. At that time, the country was witnessing a transformation from agricultural to an industrial economy and that required more labor and expertise which

 

33

 

the immigrants were part of them. The new arrivals did not cause just an increase in the population, however, they participated actively in the developing process. They brought capital, vocational skills, and new agricultural and industrial knowledge and production methods which contributed in enriching the economic diversity (Koçak, 2011). As the government accepted them and they will be given Turkish citizenship, the immigrants were accommodated by the government and given necessary elements that allow them to involve in the economic process. In addition, financial support was given to the immigrants who wanted to start their own economic projects. The migrants in that period, although they faced many obstacles at the beginning of their movement related to the economic conditions and difficulties in access to thelabor market, were successfully integrated into the society and played an important role in the country‟s economy. After the World War II, Turkey has received massive influxes from Bulgaria and Yugoslavia (Latif, 2002:7).

 

 

During the Western Europe economic boom‟s period that followed the World War II, and due to the increasing needs of the western countries for the manual labors, Turkey has become a source of labor migration into these countries. Many agreements have been done with the Western Europe states started in 1961 with Germany and followed in 1964 with Austria, Belgium, and the Netherlands and later with many other European countries. Turkish government aimed by sending those labor migrants to decrease the pressure on the local labor market and solve the unemployment problem. Moreover, the hope those unskilled worker migrants will come back after gaining new skills and getting new knowledge to participate in the industrial sector. However, those worker migrants decided to stay in their host states, they got permanent residence permitsand did not go back. During the period from the beginning of the 1960s till 1973 almost 785,000 workers had moved to Western Europe (Yılmaz 1992:35). The vast majority of them were moved to Germany with almost 80 percent. Later, the Turkish policy had changed toward sending workers as well as the European states also stopped receiving workers from non-EC citizens. Yet, the emigration continued from turkey to Europe through the families reunification and asylum seeking when many Turkish people escaped as a result of some political conflicts in Turkey especially during the 1980s when the Turkish military have got involved in the political process.

 

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In spite of the emigration movement from Turkey that shaped the state‟s migration patterns and attracted the attention of the scholars to study it during a specific period of Turkey‟s modern history, it stayed also a destination of large influx of forced migrants who are fleeing the conflicts in the surrounding region, in addition to the immigrants from the former Soviet Union states during the Cold War(Kirisci, 2003). Furthermore, the geographic location of Turkey on the connecting area between developing south and developed north makes it serving as a transit area for the migration from southeast to the northwest(Kolukirik et al, 2009).

 

Middle East countries consider the most significant source of the influx of asylum seekers into Turkey. The mass influx of Iranian asylum seekers who fled because of the new political regime after the Islamic Revolution in 1979 one of the first and largest refugee wave into Turkey from the Middle East region. Turkey has allowed the Iranian asylum seekers to cross the borders without a visa and they were given temporary residence permits. Later, the vast majority of them were resettled in the third country in Europe and North America (Latif, 2002:8-9).

 

 

Late in the 1980s and early in 1990s, Turkey witnessed a series of Iraqi forced migrants‟ waves who sought a refuge in Turkey. The first wave was in 1988 when tens of thousands of Kurdish Iraqi people had crossed the Turkish borders escaping the escalation between the government and the Kurdish groups. Turkey accepted to let them enter its territories and accommodate them in camps in the east part of Turkey with a temporary protection. Few years later, when the Gulf War had erupted, thousands of people have fled into Turkey including Iraqis and foreigners who were working or living in Iraq. In 1991, after the Gulf War was finished and military operation have been conducted by Iraqi army against the Kurdish uprising against the regime, almost 460,000 people have fled toward the Iraqi, Turkish borders seeking an asylum in Turkey. However, Turkey had refused to allow the crossing the border and considered them as a threat to the national security. Instead, Turkey suggested creating a safe zone on the Iraqi side of the borders. With the support of the international community, the safe zone was created and the displaced people were accommodated in camps established there (Latif, 2002:9).

 

 

35

 

In the same period, Turkey has witnessed a mass influx of almost 300,000 Bulgarian Pomaks and Turks who fled the Communist regime‟s policy against them. Part of them had returned back when the Soviet Union collapsed and the rest had decided to stay in Turkey and got Turkish citizenship. Later, as a result of the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, thousands of Bosnian were forced to flee their lands. They had accommodated in refugee camps as well as in the Turkish cities. Most of them went back after war stopped. At the end of the 1990s, thousands of Kosovars have fled into Turkey. Some of them were given residence permits and settled in Turkey while the majority have decided to return back (Kirisci, 2003).

 

 

A new pattern of migration has been witnessed during the 1990s. This pattern is known as transit migration and in this case, the migrants‟ intention was to use Turkey as a temporary station during their attempt to reach the rich countries in Europe. Transit migration considers as a part of irregular or illegal migration (İçduygu, 2005). The migrants come to Turkey by either crossing the borders illegally because most of the border area are mountains and not easy to be controlled, or by entering legally and then trying to pass from Turkey into Europe since Turkey has a common borders with some European countries and the coastal conditions suitable for easing the irregular migration from Turkish Aegean and Mediterranean coasts to Greek island (Latif, 2002:15-16). The disorder situations and the poverty in the region as well as the geographic location of Turkey have contributed in turning turkey to be the destination of the transit migrants(İçduygu, 2005). In addition, Turkish migration and asylum policies which restricted by geographical limitation policy and some other factors make Turkey a transit country and not a final destination of the irregular migrants(Suter, 2013:11). In the Turkish case, there is an overlap between the economically motivated migrants and forced migrants which makes it hard to distinguish between them since they came almost from the same places, by the same irregular way, and both are tending to move to the same destination which is Western Europe in general. Thus, forced migrants in Turkey also consider as a part of the transit migration pattern (İçduygu, 2005).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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2.2. Current Forced Migrants Crisis

 

Since the beginning of the Syrian uprising against the Assad regime, Turkey has decided to support the demands of the opposition groups and called the regime to take these demands into account and to make a reform in the political system. However, when the regime continued using the excessive force and violence against the oppositions and civilians by the Syrian security forces and army, Turkish position changed to call for changing the regime (Kirisci, 2014:1).

 

As the uprising in Syria has turned to become a militant conflict between the Syrian army and the opponents, some people in the military operations areas have begun to flee, seeking for safe refuge either internally or in the neighboring countries such as Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, and Iraq. From the beginning, Turkey announced that it would open its borders to the people who are escaping the violence in Syrian (Kirisci, 2014:1).

 

 

3000000
	2749140
	2503549
2500000
2000000
	1772535
	1552839
1500000
1000000	795442

560129

500000                                                   ⁴⁰⁶²⁹⁰

₈₀₀₀       38784

 

0

 

170912

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure1: Number of Syrian forced migrants in Turkey since December 2011 (UNHCR Data, 2016)

 

The first arrival of Syrian refugees in Turkey was a small number in April 2011, one month after the beginning of the protests in Syrian. The first arrivals were accommodated in schools, sport halls, and uninhabited houses. Yet, the number instantly increased. By the end of 2011, almost 8,000 forced migrants were registered in Turkey

 

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(İçduygu, 2015:6). The increasingnumber of displaced Syrians in Turkey led the Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (AFAD) of Turkey to start constructing camps to accommodate the constantly increasing numbers of refugees(Kirisci, 2015:14).The extension and acceleration of the Syrian conflict caused the number of forced migrants in Turkey to be 170,000 at the end of 2012(UNHCR, 2013). By October 2013, almost 500,000 Syrian were registered in Turkey; 200,000 of them were housed in 21 camps in the bordered provinces. Just one year later, the number of registered refugees had become 1.9 million, with more than 250,000 of them living in 25 camps (Kirisci, 2015:15-16).

 

 

The sudden prominent emerging of the Islamic State organization in Iraq in 2014 has led to a mass influx of people fleeing from their homes to other regions of Iraq or to Turkey. The number of Iraqi asylum seekers has reached 81,000 in September 2014 just a few months after ISIS had started gaining land in Iraq (Kirisci, 2015). The people who belong to minorities such as Yazidis were persecuted and threatened by ISIS which led large groups of them, about 40,000-50,000, to seek asylum in Turkey (Refugee Rights Turkey, 2016). Four camps in Turkey are allocated to host the Yazidi forced migrants. These events in Iraq and the deterioration of the situation in Syria have led to a significant increase in the humanitarian crisis in the region (Kirisci, 2015).

 

Nowadays, after five years of the ongoing civil war in Syria, almost half of the population of Syria has been displaced by the conflict. Almost 6.5 million are internally displaced and 4.8 million were forcibly displaced from Syria (UNOCHA, 2016). They constitute the main source of forced migrants in Turkey and have become almost 2.7 million. 489,000 of them are housed in 25 refugee camps while the rest of them, who are about 2.2 million, are living in urban places, mostly in the bordered provinces with Syria in addition to the other provinces (UNHCR, 2016). In addition, by February 2016, there were 256,700 non-Syrian forced migrants in Turkey from different sources especially Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Somalia, and some other countries (UNHCR, 2016). Kirisci (2014:8) states that because of the large number of forced migrants in the recent influx, this makes it the biggest influx in Turkish history. Hence, Turkey enacted a new open-door policy for non-European migrants in large number. With the adoption of the new Law on Foreigners and International Protection in 2013, the responsibility of

 

38

 

implementing it will be by the (GDMM) to organize the entry and staying of foreigners in Turkey, thus making the current situation of Syrian refugees is unprecedented in Turkey‟s history (Kirisci, 2014: 8).

 

2.3. Current challenges

 

Turkey currently hosts the largest number of refugees and asylum seekers in the world, and many fled within a relatively short period of time and with bad economic situations since most of them were forced to move under a real threat to their lives and leave their jobs, properties, other income sources. Some of the families may have lost their breadwinners during the ongoing conflict, and a high percentage of the forced migrants are children who require special needs and life conditions. All of the mentioned above, as well as, the incessant increase in their number, indicate that those migrants are constituting many essential challenges for the host country. Hence, Turkish government should take responsibility in addressing these challenges to mitigate their potential effect and to turn the burden into opportunities.

 

 

Kamel Kirisci, in 2014, addressed the issue of the challenges that are facing Turkey because of the influx of Syrian refugees to Turkey. A few months after the eruption of the crisis in Syria, when the number of the refugees crossing the borders to Turkey started increasing and the government adopted the open-door policy and committed that they will not be deported, it started facing many challenges.

 

2.3.1. The Uncertainty

 

First of all, the issue of the unknown period that these refugees will stay in Turkey constitutes the biggest and most significant challenge that leads to other challenges, and solving this challenge could contribute in addressing the others. So far no sign of any solution to the Syrian conflict is in sight, and it is unexpected that they can return to their country before the civil war finishes and even after it is finished it is unknown if they will be able to return or not. Thus, three options remain. The first is to be resettled in a third country, and this option, based on the previous and current practice, is not going to be in a large scale that can cover this vast number of refugees. Second, is the calling for UNHCR‟s member countries to share the burden with neighbor countries of Syria. Accordingly, the third option of integrating them into the

 

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societyseems to be the only one still available to deal with this issue. This subject is controversial between the politicians, mostly for political reasons. The Turkish public looks at Syrians as a burden and does not accept the idea of integrating them for economic reasons because Turkish people hold the forced migrants responsible for the rise in the prices of goods, food, and rent, and also for the dropping in the wages. In reality, the Syrians realize that they are going to stay for a long time and their return may not be soon, so they have already started an informal integration by themselves. They have started learning the Turkish language, looking for jobs and improving the conditions of their accommodation (Kirisci, 2014:19-20).

 

 

2.3.2. Employment and Labor Market

 

The employment issue, according to Kirisci, is one of the biggest challenges facing Turkey that should be addressed. It is related to the uncertainty of the period that the Syrians are going to stay in Turkey. Current labor law does not allow forced migrants to get a job unless they meet many conditions which make getting a formal job extremely difficult for them. The alternative for them is to seekinformal jobs in many economic sectors such as agriculture, industry, and services which expose them to many forms of exploitation by the employers. This includes working for long hours, low salaries, and without health insurance. Efforts were made to confront this challenge, for instance, The Gaziantep Chamber of Commerce suggested that the Syrians should be given work permits. At the same time, an industrial zone near the Syrian borders can be established to employ them there and what they produce will be sent to the Syrian markets. However, it is still a suggestion and not clear if it can contribute effectively to improving the situation (Kirisci, 2014:21-22).

 

2.3.3. Education

 

Another essential challenge, according to Kirisci, is the education of refugee children. This big challenge requires a cooperation between the Turkish government, society, and the international community to make sure that the refugee children of school age, who are more than half a million in Turkey according to UNHCR (2014), have an equal right, the same like Turkish children without any discrimination, to access schools since Turkey is a signatory to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.

 

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Furthermore, educating these children is necessary for the future of their country, to participate in rebuilding it, as well as it is important for the security of the host society to protect them from involving in crimes. However, an important question about whether they will stay in Turkey or will return back to their homeland should be answered to be able to determine the way to solve this challenge. According to the answer of this question, the language of education and the curriculum can be determined whether it will be the Turkish language and curriculum in the case of integrating them in Turkey, or the Arabic language and their own curriculum if they will go back. Currently, most of the enrolled students are studying in non-government school and the curriculum is the Syrian one. However, it is noticeable that the turnout of forced migrant children to learn Turkish is increasing which reflects the understanding of the migrants that they will not go back soon, so they chose to integrate into the society. In practice, both of the options constitute multifaceted challenges, social, cultural, political and the extent of applicability (Kirisci, 2014:22-24).

 

 

In addition, there is a problem related to the infrastructures availability. Finding buildings suitable to be used as schools and can serve as much as students is a real challenge and requires effort and significant resources. Moreover, building new schools takes a long time and requires high capital to build and prepare them with necessary items. Furthermore, finding and paying specialized teachers to work at these schools constitutes a significant part of this challenge. By cooperation between AFAD, UNICEF, and the Ministry of Education, many schools are planned to be built to serve the increasing number of refugee students. However, much more on this issue still needs to be done to protect the children and the host society (Kirisci, 2014:22-24).

 

2.3.4. Health and housing

 

Providing health care and housing for the forced migrants has constituted challenges since the beginning of the Syrian inflow towards Turkey. The increasing number has led to the establishment of 22 camps within first 3 years of the conflict. The camps provide shelter, primary health services, and monthly payment to allow them to meet their basic needs from markets inside the camps (Kirisci, 2014:27).

 

 

 

 

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In the case of refugees outside of the camps, the situation is more complicated than in the camps. The accommodation is not provided by the government or municipalities. The influx of huge numbers of the refugees to the urban areas has caused a significant increase in the demand for renting houses which has led to increases in the rent to unaffordable levels for many families. This situation has led many families to live in inappropriate houses and some refugees are using abandoned houses as a shelter (Kirisci, 2014:28).

 

The health situation of urban refugees is also encountering many difficulties. Many host areas, especially near the borders with Syria, have a large number of refugees. This overcrowding causes pressure on the health centers and negatively affects the refugees and the locals, such as in the case of the hospital in Kilis. Furthermore, the language barriers constitute the main handcuff in the provisionof health services to refugees, in addition to some other challenges related to health services that should be addressed (Kirisci, 2014:29).

 

 

2.3.5. Social challenges

 

The large number of refugees in Turkey in addition to its economic challenges has caused many social challenges. There are many social differences between them and the host community. For example, child marriage and multiple wives are prohibited in Turkish law while some refugees are doing that. In some cases,under-age refugee girls had married illegally with locals as second or third wives which caused a social tension and increased the rate of divorce in areas such asKill and Hatay. In these cases, there is a serious problem in registering their children because the marriage is illegal and they cannot be registered (Kirisci, 2014:29).

 

In addition, a challenge faces the families outside the camps in registering their babies which makes them without citizenship, and even the babies who are being registered in the camps, there is uncertainty whether the regime in their countries will recognize this registration or not. Last but not least, the difficult situation of girls and women expose them to sexual exploitation (Kirisci, 2014:30).

 

 

 

 

 

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2.4. Historical Brief on Migration in Samsun Province

 

So far, almost all types of migration have been seen and experienced in Samsun. Some of these types are still going on until now. The important forms of migration in Samsun Province are population exchange which happened in the past, seasonal migration, rural-urban migration, inter-provincial migration, and international migration by sending migrants abroad as economic migrants and receiving migrants such as forced migrants from different countries which are happening currently.

 

The location of Samsun, as well as the attractiveness of its physical and human characteristics, has made it one of the major migration pathways since a long time in the history until the present, sometimes as a destination of the immigrants to settle in it, and sometimes as a place of transit migration. Nowadays, Samsun is witnessing three main types of migration movements. These movements are the internal migration, seasonal migration, and international migration. These movements will be briefly explained below in order to be able to understand the current situation (Yılmaz, 2013).

 

 

2.4.1. Internal migration and Samsun

 

The main forms of internal migration which are happening in Samsun either in small or big portions are rural-to-rural, urban-to-urban, urban-rural, and rural-urban migrations.

 

Rural-to-rural migration happens usually by marriage when women marry from other villages and move to their husbands' villages. It also occurs in the case of constructing new dams which force the inhabitants of the villages that will be flooded to move to other rural areas. Urban-rural migration happens when the people, who were originally born in the villages and left to the urban areas retire and decide to go back to their old homes in the rural areas (Yılmaz, 2013).

 

In the case of urban-to-urban migration, the movement is bidirectional. There is a movement of migrants from Samsun city and its districts to the other cities and from other cities to Samsun. The main factor in this form of migration is the movement of the employees. For example, in the period from 1990 until 2000 Samsun received 96,084 people while it sent 147,729 people in the same period. This means that the average

 

 

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annual deficit in Samsun was -5000 people in that period. More than half of these numbers are urban-to-urban (Yılmaz, 2013).

 

The most important form of internal migration is the rural-urban movement. Since the 1950s, Turkey has started witnessing a constantly increasing migration movement from rural to urban areas including Samsun. This movement is either from Samsun‟s villages to the cities in the west of Turkey such as Istanbul, Izmit, and Bursa, or to Samsun city and its districts at first and later to the other cities. Rural-urban migration movement in Samsun is expected to increase and continue in the coming years (Yılmaz, 2013).

 

 

After the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, Samsun was sending and receiving internal migrants from other provinces. Until the 1970s, Samsun was receiving more than what it was sending, because of that, the total population growth rate of Samsun was higher than the rate of Turkey. However, after this period, it started sending more migrants than it was receiving and its total population growth rate stayed lower than the total rate of Turkey. While the net migration of Samsun province in the period from 1975 till 1980 was %₀ -12.6, it decreased to reach %_{0 -} 45.5 in the period from 1995 until 2000 (Yılmaz, 2013).

 

Table 2: Sent-received migrants and net migration rate of Samsun Provincefrom 2008-2011

 

	2008	2009	2010	2011
Total population	1,233,677	1,250,076	1,232,693	1,251,729
Received migrants	35,404	38,874	35,418	35,103
Sent Migrants	40,633	39,581	44,825	43,408
Net migration	-5,229	-707	-9,407	-8,305
Net migration rate (‰)	-4.23	-0.57	-7.48	-6.61
Source: Yılmaz, 2013

 

This Table shows that Samsun is receiving migrants. However, it is sending more than it is receiving. The movements of employers and students are playing a significant role in these numbers.

 

 

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2.4.2. International migration and Samsun

 

Samsun province, due to its location on the migration routes, has been a scene for constant migrations throughout the history. More than 100 years ago, especially after the Ottoman-Russian War in 1877-1878 Samsun has become a destination of migrants from the Caucasus and Crimea. In addition, after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, it received and sent migrants from and to the Balkans based on the exchange agreement that had been signed. However, since the 1960s, the movement of labor migrants from Turkey to Western Europe has started and Samsun has participated significantly in this movement. Later, the movement of migrants from the former Soviet Union began by marriage or labor migration for economic reasons (Yilmaz, 2013).

 

 

2.4.2.1 Immigration to Samsun

 

These movements have happened before and in the first years after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey and they have very clear effects on the composition of the population of Samsun province as they were mainly from Caucasus and Balkans (Yilmaz, 2013).However, the current immigration movement to Samsun is from Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, and Iran.

 

2.4.2.1.1. Immigrants from Crimea and Caucasus.

 

The first mass exudes to Samsun began after the Crimean war in 1859-1860. About 300,000 people were forced to move to Turkey. In addition, the second wave of immigrants began in that period when the Ottoman empire lost the control of the Caucasus and Crimea and moved to Russian control which led about 300,000 people to flee to Turkey. Part of these immigrants arrived at the Black Sea ports in Samsun, Trabzon, and Sinop. Some of them settled in the Black Sea region, especially in Samsun province, whereas the rest moved and settled in different regions of Turkey.

 

During this period, every day almost 500 people were arriving in Samsun and their situation was difficult because they were not able to bring anything with them. This high number of immigrants led to increasing the population of Samsun to become 45,000 in 1864 after its population was just 10,000 before this movement (Yılmaz, 2013).

 

 

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Schools and public places were used to accommodate the immigrants in Samsun and then they were sent to the surrounding towns and some refugee camps were constructed in these towns. Mosquitos and malaria had spread between the immigrants because of the absence of drainage system in the plains of Çarşamba and Bafra. Many of the new immigrants could not afford the difficult condition in the new areas and about 13,558 people lost their lives, according to the official records, in the period from April 1864 to January 1865 (Yilmaz, 2013).

 

2.4.2.1.2. Immigrants from Balkans

 

 

Based on the population exchange agreement between Turkey and Greece in 1923, the Orthodox Christians in Turkey were forced to move to Greece while the Muslims in Greece were forced to move to Turkey. Accordingly, about 500,000 Muslims moved to Turkey, and about 25,000 of them came to Samsun province. About 3,500 of them settled in Samsun city while the rest settled in its other districts (Yılmaz, 2013).

 

The new immigrants to Samsun faced many difficulties. At the time of their arrival the situation in Samsun was not good, many settlements were damaged, the people were under the poverty line, many places in Samsun and the surrounding villages, that were left by Greek people, were either in uninhabitable conditions or need large expenditures to be repaired, in addition to many other hard conditions. All of these challenges constituted many difficulties for the new immigrants in Samsun. For example, hundreds of them died because of malaria and other diseases (Yılmaz, 2013).

 

By 1927, the population of the province was 200,506 people, about 22,000 of them were immigrants and constituted 11% of its total population (Yilmaz, 2013).

 

2.4.2.1.3. Other immigrants to Samsun

 

In addition to the immigrants from Crimea, Caucasus, Greece and Balkans, the immigrants‟ inflow to Samsun, even if in small portions, has continued. The last wave of immigrants was in 1988 from Bulgaria when some of the Muslims were forced to flee the injustice against them from the regime. Some of them went back to Bulgaria and the others stayed in Samsun (Yilmaz, 2013).

 

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2.4.2.2. Emigration from Samsun

 

2.4.2.2.1. Population exchange

 

After the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, the Greek people in Samsun began leaving the province. Later, after the population exchange agreement was signed, this movement accelerated and gained massive size. From Samsun and other regional provinces, 51,784 people left with about 22,668 of them from Samsun. Most of them moved to Greece and then either stayed there or moved to countries such as USA, Canada, and Australia (Yilmaz, 2013).

 

 

2.4.2.2.2. Other Emigrants

 

In addition to what was mentioned above, emigrants from Samsun have moved fordifferent reasons, in different periods, and to different countries. For example, there are emigrants from Samsun to Australia, Canada, and the USA. In addition, during the 1960s, as from other parts of Turkey, labor migrants have moved from Samsun to Western Europe, and during the 1970s, there was a movement also to Western Europe for family reunification. Furthermore, there were also movements to the Middle East and former Soviet Union countries (Yilmaz, 2013).

 

2.4.2.3. Current Forced Migrants in Samsun (2012-2016)

 

The disorders and conflicts in the region, as mentioned before, have turned Turkey to be the main destination for the forced migrants from many countries, especially Syria. Although the majority of them have preferred to stay in the bordered provinces, such as Gaziantep, Hatay, and Kilis or to move to the big cities, such as Istanbul and Ankara, some of them have decided to move to the other cities for different reasons. These reasons can be economic, security, social, or geographic. Samsun is one of these cities that has become a destination for the migrants soon after the influx of Syrians to Turkey began.

 

The numbers of forced migrants in Samsun and the changes during the past 4 years have been taken from the news reports, officials‟ statements, and NGO‟s estimations. Thus, all of these numbers are just estimations and do not represent the accurate numbers. Because the NGO‟s depend, in their estimations, on the numbers that

 

47

 

they could register, they cannot reach and register the whole forced migrants. Likewise, the official numbers represent just the people who are registered in the city, while a significant number of them are living in Samsun without being registered.

 

14000

13171

 

 

12000

 

10000

 

8000

 

6000

 

4000

 

²⁰⁰⁰         ₅₈₅               758

 

0

 

10250

 

 

 

6300

 

 

 

 

1637

 

 

وٌلوٌ/13          سطسغأ/13       وٌنوٌ/14            ربمسٌد/14           وٌلوٌ/15             لٌربأ/16

 

 

 

Figure 2: Changes in the number of registered forced migrants in Samsun since December 2013

 

At the beginning, according to some of the interviewees, some Syrians started coming as individuals or families in small numbers. Officially, by November 2012, it became allowed for the forced migrants to move and live in Samsun. Later in April 2013, the authorities began sending some of the forced migrants to Samsun (Akasyam haber Samsun, 2013). In July 2013, according to the official numbers, there were about 585 forced migrants in Samsun, about 417 of them were from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran, and 168 of them were Syrians (Cihan Haber Ajani, 2013). One month later, the number increased to 758 forced migrants (Hadef Halk Gazetesi, 2013). In June 2014, the official number according to the governor of Samsun,Huseyin Aksoy, was 1,637 migrants. The largest groups were the Iraqis, Afghans, and Syrians respectively (Samsun Analiz, 2014)

 

Later, particularly after the renewing and intensifying of the battles and sectarian tensions in Iraq in 2014, a mass displacement of people came to Turkey escaping the violence and seeking safe refuge. Samsun was a destination for some of those Iraqis who moved to Turkey. A few months later, by December 2014, more than 6,300 forced

 

48

 

migrants were reported to be living in Samsun, about 4,300 of them were Iraqis while the rest were from Syria, Afghanistan, and other countries (Akasyam Haber Samsun, 2014).

 

Forced migrants, for different reasons and from different nationalities, have continued arriving in Samsun. According to the Director of Immigration Administration in Samsun ProvinceSinan Taşbaş, in July 2015, 10,250 forced migrants were registered in Samsun city. Those migrants were 4,600 Iraqis, 1,850 Syrians, and the rest from Afghanistan and other countries (Samsun Haber hattı, 2015).

 

 

Table 3: Registered foreigners in Samsun province in April 2016, based on their status.

 

Foreigners	Number	Percentage
International Protection	6,077	46.14 %
Temporary Protection	3,114	23.64 %
Short-Term Residents	1,982	15.05 %
Students	1,515	11.50 %
Family Residence	422	3.20 %
Stateless	30	0.23 %
Meskhetian Turks	20	0.15 %
Humanitarian Residence	9	0.08 %
Work Permits	2	0.02 %
Total	13,171	100 %

 

Source: Governor of Samsun Province During The Internatioal Migration Congress (İbrahim Şahin, 2016)

 

In April 2016, the Governor of Samsun Province İbrahim Şahin stated, as shown inFigure 2, that there are about 13,171 foreigners registered in Samsun province. 6,077 of them, as shown in the Table 3 above, are asylum seekers from Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, and the people in this group are representing the largest percentage of foreigners in Samsun (46 %). They are either holders or applicants for international

 

49

 

protection and are staying in Samsun temporarily waiting to be resettled in athird country. About 3,114 of foreigners in Samsun are Syrian applicants for the temporary protection status, 1,515 of them are students, in addition to the other 2,465 foreigners from different nationalities and holding different types of residence permits. Since there is no official specific number about the forced migrants in Samsun in 2016, the only available number is the number of foreigners. The available numbers were used to represent them as in Figure 2 above because of the difficulties in separating the forced migrants from the total number. For example, when the forced migrant students register at universities, they get student resident permits instead of their international or temporary protection cards. Thus, in reality, they are forced migrants, but officially they are registered as students. The same is true in the cases of short-term residents and other categories.

 

 

The number of forced migrants in Samsun is changing continuously, every day there are new arrivals and departures. The arrivals may come directly to Samsun after crossing the borders or may come first to another city and then later decide to move to Samsun, while the departures are moving to the other province in Turkey, going back to their countries, or moving legally or illegally to a third country.

 

Part of the forced migrants, especially the Iraqis, Afghans, and Iranians have been sent to Samsun by the Turkish authorities in cooperation with UNHCR. After arriving in Turkey, the asylum seekers have specific cities where they can register and stay while waiting for the asylum process. According to the available cities, the ministry of interior sends them to one of them. Meanwhile, they should contact the UNHCR to apply for asylum and to start the necessary procedures (Hajjajj: Road to Turkey, 2016).

 

Accordingly, Samsun was one of the cities that the asylum seekers were allowed to stay, and during that time, many of them were sent or decided to stay in Samsun. Later, after sending specific numbers of asylum seekers to Samsun, the Ministry of Interior stopped sending more of them to Samsun. However, many new asylum seekers have preferred to stay in Samsun even without an allowance because of the presence of their relatives or friends in Samsun who came first to Samsun and advised them to move there. In addition, some of them who were sent to smaller cities in the region preferred

 

50

 

to stay in Samsun because they believe that Samsun offers more job opportunities than other smaller cities. Moreover, the geographic location of Samsun on the Black Sea has encouraged some families to move to it as a convenient place for entertainment and a relatively cheaper location than other big coastal cities. More details about the reasons that led them to choose Samsun are provided in the next chapter.

 

Many forced migrants who are living in Samsun that I met when I was conducting the research are staying in Samsun without being registered neither at governmental authorities nor at international organizations. Those people, as well as the forced migrants who are registered in other cities while they are living in Samsun, are not included in the official numbers. Hence, the estimations of the NGOs can be more accurate because they do not depend on the legal situation of the forced migrant. However, the presence of forced migrants in Samsun, regardless if he or she is a worker, student, or refugee, is enough to include him or her in the NGO‟s numbers.

 

 

2.5. Legal Framework of Turkish Asylum Policy

 

Despite the fact that Turkey was one of the signatories of the 1951 Refugee Convention, it decided to keep the geographical limitation at the time of ratification of the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugee 1967. As a result of this limitation, Turkey pledged to give the refugee status only to the European asylum seekers. By keeping the limitation, Turkey became on the only three countries in the world that has this limitation besides Congo and Madagascar (Oxford, 2012). Accordingly, the asylum seekers who do not fulfill the refugee status requirements that were defined in the 1951 Convention, including the geographic limitation, cannot be given a refugee status and they were mostly from the Middle East especially from Iran and Iraq. Those asylum seekers were given a temporary protection which allows them to stay in Turkey after being registered at UNHCR and applying for resettlement in the third country. The 1951 Refugee Convention and the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugee 1967 served as the main asylum legislation until 1994 when a new legislation was adopted mainly as a result of the huge influx of asylum seekers, especially at the end of the 1980s and beginning of 1990s who came mainly from Iraq and former Soviet Union countries and also because of the critical challenges that confronted Turkish authorities in dealing with

 

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these influxes (Latif, 2002). The regulation also came to address the challenge that Turkey had faced in 1991 when hundreds of thousands of Iraqi displaced people were trying to enter the Turkish borders. This attempt was considered as a threat to the national security. Thus, 1994 regulation states that unless there is a political decision to allow asylum seekers to cross the road, they must be prevented from entering Turkish territories. However, in case they entered the borders without a political decision they shouldbe accommodated in camps as close as possible from the borders that they cross. (Kirisci, 2014:7)

 

The 1994 regulation was considered as significant progress in the asylum policy in Turkey. Based on the regulation the asylum seekers should register with the police at the point of entry within 5 days of their arrival. Then they should provide the authorities with the valid document within 15 days. These conditions, in addition to other some ambiguous statements included in the regulation, were criticized because of the difficulties to meet them in such a short period in addition to maintaining the geographical limitation (İçduygu 2015:4).

 

 

As a result of the geographical limitation to the 1951 Refugee Convention, the definition of refugee in Turkish law is different than in the international law. Turkish law uses the same definition of international law but just for the European origin applicants. Accordingly, forced migrants who are coming from outside of Europe cannot be given a refugee status and considered as asylum seekers (Oxford, 2012). Until 2013 when the new Law on Foreigners and International Protection was implemented, the people who were considered as asylum seekers or asylum applicants did not have the right to access some social services such as healthcare (Amnesty International 2012).

 

As a part of the attempts to be a member of the EU, Turkey has to make reforms in many of its institutions and policies to make them compatible with the European Union Acquis (NPAA) including the asylum policy and what is related to it, such as the geographical limitation issue and irregular migration. To do so, many adjustments have been done about the asylum policy and practices. The limited days for the application were increased in 1999 and some programs were adopted to facilitate the asylum process. In addition, Turkey started cooperating with the UNHCR in some projects

 

52

 

related to asylum processes and training. Furthermore, new laws were issued in order to confront illegal migration and migrants trafficking (UNHCR, 2003).

 

As Turkey is trying to cope with the unprecedented influxes of forced migrants into Turkey from regional countries recently, especially from Syria, as well as its endeavors to be a member of the EU, 1994 regulation was replaced in 2013 by a new Law on Foreigners and International Protection(LFIP). However, the new law kept the geographical limitation of the 1951 Refugee Convention but they legitimate giving a conditional refugee status to non-European asylum seekers in some cases. Accordingly, migrants will not be settled in Turkey and can just wait for an opportunity to be resettled in the third country or to go back to their country (İçduygu, 2015:8).

 

 

Since October 2014, when the temporary protection regulation was adopted, two different protection systems became applied on the forced migrants and asylum seekers in Turkey. The first one is the Temporary Protection Regulation (TPR) for the forced migrants from Syria including Syrian nationals and stateless Palestinians. Temporary protection status allows its holders to stay legally in Turkey and gives them the basic rights and allows them to access to some services such as healthcare. The responsible authority for giving this status is the DGMM which gives the applicants Temporary Protection Identification. This status was given by December 2015 to 2,291,900 applicants. Individuals under the temporary protection will not be granted long-term or permanent residence permits due to the geographical limitation (Refugee Rights Turkey, 2016a).

 

The second system based on LFIP is the international protection and it is being granted to the forced migrants who come from countries other than Syria. Instead of the Foreigners Department of the National Police, the Directorate General of Migration Management was established and became the responsible authority in registering the applicants and issuing the status. The rights given to the international protection holders are considered less than in the temporary protection case. By December 2015, 134,140 individuals were registered in this system. These processes of registration are done by DGMM in cooperation with the UNHCR in the registration of new arrivals and in the resettlement process. New arrivals apply at the UNHCR and are then assigned to register

 

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for international protection in specific provinces at DGMM (Refugee Rights Turkey, 2016a).

 

During the period of staying in Turkey, forced migrants have been given specific rights related to the right to education, access to health services and access to the labor market. According to the Law on Foreigners and International Protection, the children who have been granted protection have a right of free access to basic education in public schools, even though, there are still some obstacles related to the practice of this regulation. The right of access to higher education is included as well. In addition, they have a right of free of charge Turkish language courses (Refugee Rights Turkey, 2016).

 

 

Based on Turkish law, all residents of Turkey have to be covered by either public or private health insurance which is not free of charge. In the case of international protection applicants and status holders who cannot afford the costs of health services, they will be covered by a general health insurance scheme of Turkey which means they are allowed to access the public health services within the assigned province of residence. This right will not be valid until the applicant gets the International or Temporary Protection Applicant Identification Card by being registered with the Provincial Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM) Directorate. Otherwise, except in emergency situations, the access to free public health services is not allowed before completing the registration process (Refugee Rights Turkey, 2016).

 

In Turkey, the temporary and international protection statusdoes not include the right of beneficiaries to access the labor market. As a result, they have to apply for a work permit by a process that includes many obstacles and barriers that make it difficult to obtain. One of these obstacles is that to be able to apply for a work permit, the applicant must have a valid resident permit which is not available in the case of temporaryprotection status holders.

 

Furthermore, the application for a work permit should be made by both the applicant and the employer who accepted to employ the applicant. These complicated and long processes have led to a reduction of the number of asylum seekers who could get a work permit. For example, by the end of 2014, just 3,673 out of almost 2 million Syrians in Turkey could obtain a work permit during four years of existence of Syrian forced

 

54

 

migrants in Turkey. As a result, asylum seekers are usually involved in informal employment that exposes them to different forms of exploitation and abuse by the employers (Refugee Rights Turkey, 2016).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

55

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 3

 

 

AREA OF STUDY

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.1. Location and Area

 

Samsun province is one of the 81 Turkish provinces, located in the central part of the Black Sea region. Its neighboring provinces are Sinop and Çorum on the west, the Black Sea on the north, Amasya and Tokat on the South, and Ordu on the east (Figure 3). The province located between 40° 50′ 07″ - 41° 44′ 07″ N latitude and between 34° 52′ 39″ -37° 10′ 31″ E longitude (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

The area of Samsun province is 9,352 km² and constitutes about 1.2% of Turkey‟s total area. In terms of area size, Samsun considers the 31^st province among the 81 provinces in Turkey (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

56

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 3: The map of the area of study

 

 

3.2. Climate

 

 

The coastal area of Samsun is hot in summer seasons, mild in winters, and rainy in the autumn seasons. In general, the humid-temperate weather features are dominating on the climate of the coastal parts of Black Sea region. However, the total rainfall on the Samsun coast is less than the total in the east and west Black Sea coasts. In addition, the winter temperatures are still low compared to the eastern Black Sea coasts(Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

In the inland parts of the province such as Kavak, Ladik, and Vezirköprü, summer seasons are hot while winter temperatures are lower compared to the coastal parts. Thus, the continental climate features are dominating on the inland parts of the province(Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

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The average annual temperature in Samsun province in the coastal parts is around the 13⁰c. The annual average temperature falls below 11⁰c in the high areas as well as in the parts that located away from sea(Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

 

 

3.3. Population

 

Based on the first censusthat was conducted after the establishment of the Republic of Turkey, the population of Samsun was 260,868, while the total population of Turkey was 13,648,270. In terms of population size, Samsun was the 17^th among 63 provinces. Since that time this number is increasing at a different pace and reached 1,209,137 in 2000 which means that the population of Samsun province had increased 4.6 times during this period. In 2012, the number has increased to 1,251,722 which made Samsun the 16^th province in terms of population size among 81 provinces. In 2015, the population has continued to increase to reach 1,279,884 which is 9,895 people higher compared to the previous year when it was 1,269,989(Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

 

The suitable geographic features of the Samsun province have led to increasing the number of its population constantly since the first census. Thus, In terms of population density, Samsun has a higher density in comparison to many other Turkish provinces. According to the first population census in 1927, while the arithmetic population density in Turkey was 18 people per km², it was 29 people per km² in Samsun. Samsun‟s arithmetic remained higher than the average of Turkey. For example, in 2014 when the average of Turkey was 100 people per km², the arithmetic density in Samsun was 136 people per km² (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

3.3.1. Urban and rural population in Samsun

 

According to the TurkStat data, the population of Samsun province in 2012 was 1,251,722 people. 411,323 of them which constitute about 33% were rural population, while 840,399 of them which constitute about 67% were urban population. Since 2013, the separation between rural and urban population has been eliminated by the TurkStat. Therefore, all populations of the Samsun province has been accepted to be urban population, and all the villages that were belonging to the districts are now considered as neighborhoods of metropolitan. As a result, the last data of the urban and rural population of Samsun province were in 2012(Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

58

 

 

 

 

 

 

33%

 

 Urban Population

 

 Rural Population

 

67%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 4: The percentage of urban and rural population of Samsun province in 2012.

 

Historically, in 1927, just 21.3% of Samsun‟s populations were living in cities. This rate continued approximately at the same level until the 1950s. Later, the rate has steadily increased. By 2011, the rate has increased to 67%. However, this rate is still 9% less than the average rate of the urban population of Turkey which is 76%. Samsun occupies the 34th rank among the Turkish provinces in terms of the rate of urban population (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

In general, changes in the rate of urban-rural population in Samsun province are expected to continue. The urban rate will increase, while the rural rate is going to decrease more. The people who leave the rural areas are expected to move at first to the nearest provincial and district centers. However, if they do not find employment opportunities in these centers, they will move either directly or gradually to the big cities (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

3.3.2. Factors affecting population distribution

 

The population of Samsun did not distribute in a balanced and orderly manner because of many physical and human factors that influenced their distribution.

 

The main physical factors are the effects of Black Sea climate, the influence of the surface shape, the features of Bafra and Çarşamba plains that caused an irregular distribution pattern of the settlements, and the east-west direction of Canik Mountains that separate between coastal and inland areas.

 

59

 

However, the human factors that affect the distribution of the population are more than the physical factors. The most important factor is the forced migration waves that occurred at the end of Ottoman Empire period and early in the Republic period from different sources, such as Caucasian and Balkans. These waves are still constituting the main patterns of population distribution in Samsun Province (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

In addition, the Bafra and Çarşamba plains include the 2^nd and 3^rd largest deltas in Turkey and the flat areas in Terme and Çarşamba that constitute suitable lands for different forms of agricultural activities. Moreover, they include fishing sectors, cultivation and production of tobacco and cigarettes. Also, they contain the presence of commercial and administrative centers in the province, and the availability of education, health, and banking services, as well as, serves as a bridge between the Black Sea and Central Anatolia (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

 

3.3.3. Educational status of population

 

In 2013, the literacy rate of the population in Samsun was 98.7% among men and 93.4% among women. While in 1935 the literacy rate among men was 29%, and just 7.8% among women. The illiteracy rate is still decreasing with more efforts to increase the literacy rate to reach 100% (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

3.4. Agriculture

 

Samsun province is one of the most fertile areas in Turkey. The delta plains of Kızılırmak and Yeşilırmak rivers form the main agricultural areas of the province. In addition, the flat basin that formed between the depressions of Vezirköprü, Ladik, and Havza and the broad fields of province‟s lands constituted more agricultural units. Moreover, the differences in the climate features between the humid-temperate climate of the coastal belt and the inland terrestrial have led to product diversification in Samsun (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

Although Samsun has important agricultural areas, in the last years, its cultivated areas have decreased. For instance, while the total cultivated area in 2002 was 342,453 hectares, it decreased to 288,095 hectares in 2012. That means, the total cultivated area in Samsun in the period from 2002 until 2012 decreased by 6.59%. In 2012, with

 

 

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288,095 hectares, Samsun‟s rank was 26^th among 81 Turkish provinces (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

Almost 45% of the Samsun province area is available for agricultural purposes. The available area varies from one district to another. The districts with the highest proportion of agricultural lands are Terme (77.7 %), Çarşamba (75.8 %), and İlkadım (50.5 %). Whereas the districts with the lowest proportion of agricultural lands are Ladik

 

(27.6 %), Asarcık (27.6 %), and Vezirköprü (29.5 %) (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

3.4.1. Agricultural Production

 

 

3.4.1.1. Grain production

 

Samsun province contributes in producing grain. However, its production has started declining. In 2004, while Samsun‟s share of total grain production in Turkey was 1.52%, it decreased to 1.3% in 2010. The main grain product in Samsun is wheat and it occupies the widest areas that are allocated for producing grain. In comparison to the previous years, the production of wheat has witnessed a reduction. In 2004, about 140,000 hectares were cultivated wheat, yet, the area has decreased to 103,090 hectares in 2010. Samsun‟s rank in producing wheat in Turkey is 30^th with 1.28% of total wheat production in Turkey (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

Another important grain product in Samsun is corn. Samsun is the 7^thlargest producer of corn in Turkey and it also has witnessed a significant decrease in the cultivated area from 26,027 hectares in 2010 to 18,668 hectares in 2012. Unlike the wheat and corn production, the production of rice has increased significantly in Samsun from 9,895 hectares in 2009 to 14,464 hectares in 2010 (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

3.4.1.2. Legumes production

 

Bean and chickpeas are the most common legume products in Samsun province. In the period from 1991 to 2012, the production of beans has decreased, while the production of chickpeas has increased. Lentil, broad bean, pea, and kidney bean are also cultivated in Samsun (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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3.4.1.3. Industrial plants

 

The production of industrial plants in Samsun province has decreased significantly. The reduction in producing sugar beet and tobacco is more noticeable among the industrial plants that have kept importance in the past. In 2004, Samsun was sharing 3.5% of total industrial plants production of Turkey. Nonetheless, this rate decreased to 1.12% in 2010. In terms of sugar beet production, Samsun‟s rank is 23^rd in Turkey (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

The cultivation of soy is more stable than other industrial plants. In 2004 the cultivated area of soy was 2,322 hectares and 2,963 hectares in 2012. In addition, sunflower, colza, and cannabis are also some of the important industrial plants that are cultivated in Samsun province (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

 

3.4.1.4. Vegetable production

 

Due to the fertile delta plains and suitable climatic conditions, Samsun has become a major producer of vegetables in Turkey. In addition to the various types of summer vegetables, winter vegetables are also widely produced. In 2012, in terms of quantity, the most produced vegetables in Samsun were tomatoes, about 337,805 tons. The other main produced vegetables in Samsun are pepper, potato, okra, cucumber, and cabbage (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

3.4.1.5. Fruit production

 

Recently, the areas of fruit production in Samsun have increased. In 2004, the fruit cultivated areas were 86,403 hectares; these areas have increased to 92,051 hectares in 2010 with increasing about 6.5%. In terms of fruit production areas, Samsun is the 6th province among 81 Turkish provinces. Fruit cultivated areas in Samsun are located in the coastal areas, deltas, on the floors of valleys, and near the small water streams (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

According to the 1991 data, the most produced fruits in Samsun were apples, peaches, plums, pears, cranberries, cherries, quince, and mulberry. In terms of the number of fruit trees in the province, the peach trees are the most, then apple, cranberries, and pears. In 2012, the most produced fruits in Samsun were peach and

 

 

 

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apple. Besides, figs and grapes are among the important produced fruits in Samsun, as well as, many other types in different amounts (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

In addition, nut, walnut, chestnut, and almond are among the produced fruits in Samsun. The production of nuts has increased significantly during the last few decades. In 1991, while the nuts production was 13,336, it increased to 88,392 tons in 2012. Moreover, the production of walnuts has increased, while there was a reduction in the chestnuts production in the same period (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

3.4.1.6. Olive production

 

 

The number of olive trees and the amount of production has decreased in the last years. From 1991 to 2012 the production has decreased from 86 tons to 54 tons.

 

3.4.2. Livestock

 

The diversity of the topographic features and the suitable climate conditions in Samsun province have contributed in increasing the available pasturelands for livestock. Thus, livestock have played a significant role in forming economic activities in Samsun. The availability of large and wide pasturelands in the deltas and on the mountainous areas constitute the main factors in supporting and facilitating grazing the livestock in the area (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

Cattle and buffalo are the most important types of the large domesticated ungulates in Samsun. In the province there are many suitable areas for breeding cattle and buffalo in the deltas and other places. Therefore, Samsun is one of the most important cities in terms of breeding their types and producing large amount of the products related to them such as meat, and leather (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

3.4.3. Forestry

 

Forests in Samsun province cover a total area of 368,527 hectares. However, 118,444 hectares of this total, about (32.13 %), are classified as degraded forests. Hence, the proportion of qualified forest area in the province is 67.87% (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

Mainly, the qualified forests that can be used economically in Samsun province are located on the Küre Mountains in the western side of the province. The main types of

 

 

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trees in the forests in the south of the delta are beech, hornbeam, oak, and chestnut trees. A relatively large percentage of qualified forests in the province are used for furniture and other wood products which have led to the development of the industry in the area (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

3.5. Energy and Natural Resources

 

3.5.1. Energy Resources

 

Samsun is one of the leading Turkish provinces in producing and using clean energy resources. The most important resources are the hydropower plants that were built on the Kızılırmak and Yeşilırmak rivers which are two of the most important rivers in Turkey (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

 

The most important hydropower plants are first, Altinkaya dam and hydroelectric power plant which built on the Kızılırmak River. Its power capacity is 700 MW with annual electricity production of 1632 GWh. Second is the Hasan Uğurlu dam and hydroelectric power plant. The dam was built in the period between 1971- 1981 on the Yeşilırmak River. The dam‟s capacity is 500 MW with annual electricity production of 1217 GWh. Third is the Derbent dam and hydroelectric power plant. The dam was built in the period from1984 to 1990 on the Kızılırmak River. Its power capacity is 56 MW with annual electricity production of 257 GWh. Forth isthe Suat Uğurlu dam and dam and hydroelectric power plant. The dam was built in the period from 1975 to 1981 on the Yeşilırmak River. Its power capacity is 46 MW with annual electricity production of 273 GWh (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

In addition to the hydraulic power, there are many Thermal Power Plants in Samsun. The largest plants are the OMV thermal plant which located in Terme, as well as the Natural Gas Combined Cycle Power Plant which is located in the Samsun industrial zone. The power capacity of OMV thermal plant is 890 MW and it is the first single-shaft combined cycle natural gas power plant in Turkey (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

In addition, some thermal plants, using fossil-fuel power, were built in Tekkeköy. However, these stations were stopped due to the reaction of people against them because

 

 

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they created many environmental problems. Today, there are projects to establish lignite-based power plants near Terme (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

3.5.2. Underground resources

 

Actually, there is a close relation between Samsun‟s underground natural resources and its geological features. Because of the different geological formations that belong to different periods of Samsun's history, the province was allowed to have various underground resources. The most important underground resources in Samsun are lead-zinc in Havza and Terme, manganese Kavak, Ladik and Vezirköprü, marble, and lignite in Havza. In addition, gypsum and industrial raw materials such as brick-tile and cement are also exist in the province (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

 

3.6. Industry

 

3.6.1. Industrial organizations

 

The availability of fertile deltas and suitable inland plains in Samsun province has facilitated the development of agro-based industries in the province. In the past, a cigarette factory was established to deal with the intensive production of tobacco in the province. In addition, because of the cheap sea transportation facilities, the extracted copper in other regions has been brought and evaluated in the copper companies in Samsun. Moreover, Samsun is connected by the railway routes which constitute the easiest way that connects southern Anatolia to the Black Sea coasts and the interior parts of the Black Sea region. This easy transport facility constitutes the advantages that contributed to the development of the industrial sectors in Samsun. The convenient transportation conditions have facilitated the marketing processes of produced goods in the region to the other regions and countries. The constructed hydroelectric generating stations on the Yeşilırmak and Kızılırmak rivers are providing the industrial facilities not only in Samsun but in the country with their needs of energy for many years. The population of the province, as well as the migrants arriving from the surrounding areas have met the increasing needs of the province for the industrial labor. With all of these favorable conditions, Samsun is one of the most important centers for the development of the industry in the Black Sea region (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

 

 

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The process of industrialization in Samsun began through public-owned factories. The facilities in Samsun such as Samsun Cigarette Factory and Samsun Nitrogen-Copper Factory are among the important factories in the country. Since the 1980s, the establishment of organized industrial zones and the increasing investment in private sector has started (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

Samsun has more favorable conditions compared to the other provinces because of its convenient location and the capacity of its infrastructure. In 2011, there were 868 industrial enterprises registered in the record industry and the number of the employees in industrial enterprises in the province is 18,457. In the province, 54% of the industrial enterprises are micro, 38% small, 7% medium, and 1% large-scale enterprises (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

 

In the province there are five organized industrial zones and 14 small industrial sites. In 2011, there were 5 industrial enterprises among the biggest 500 industrial enterprises in Turkey and 7 in the second 500 industrial enterprises (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

3.7. Transportation

 

The transport system has played an important role in the establishment and development process of Samsun city and other settlements in the province. In fact, the port has played a significant role in determining the place of establishment of the city. The port also played an attractive role in linking the ancient trade routes by connecting the city to the interior and the southern part of Turkey. During the Republic time, in addition to the highways that served in connecting the province, region, and other provinces, the railway has been put into service (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

Besides the location of Samsun, that provides sea transport and the presence of convenient port that constitutes an advantage in terms of commercial perspective, the topographical conditions are also suitable (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

3.7.1. Highway Transport

 

In 2002, the total length of the roads in Turkey that comply with the quality standard of Turkey was 61,368 Km. The length of the same type of way in Samsun

 

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province was 775 km. With this length, the share of Samsun province was 1.26%. This length has increased by 2010 to become 805 km. Moreover, in 2012, the length of village roads in Samsun was 8,648 km which constitutes 2.70% of the length in Turkey (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

3.7.2. Railway transport

 

By 2002, the length of the railway in Samsun province was 149 km which constituted 1.72% of the total length in Turkey. In 2012, the same length of railway constituted 1.53%of the total in Turkey. Meanwhile, the Samsun Light Rail System which has great importance for the local transport in Samsun city began in 2010 (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

 

3.7.3. Marine transport

 

The number of the ships that used Samsun port in 2004 was 1,481. By 2011, the number increased by 70.7% to be 2,528 ships and the share of Samsun port was 3.36% from the total ships that used the ports in Turkey. The number of the ships increased in 2012 to be 2,656 ships; however, the share in Turkey was the same as 2011(Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

The waterway transport in Samsun is not only on the Black Sea, also since a long time ago, the rivers also are being used for transport (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

3.7.4.Air transport

 

Samsun is one of the provinces that has benefited from air transport for many years. Nowadays, the constructed airport in the area between Samsun and Çarşamba serving the people in this region is the third airport in the province. The airport opened officially in 1998, and the flights began in February 1999 (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

In 2012, the total number of passengers who benefited from Samsun-Çarşamba Airport was 1,237,691. While the number of arrivals was 630,712, the number of departures was 606,979 passengers (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

3.7.5.City transportation

 

For many years, the local transportation is provided by taxis, buses and minibuses. Recently, the light rail system has played an important role in developing and facilitating the transportation inside the city.

 

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3.8. Trade

 

Samsun, since the ancient time, has been involved in the commercial activities due to the presence of its port, as well as the possibility of easy transportation to the interior parts of Turkey.

 

In the province, there are 6 districts registered at the chamber of commerce and industry (Samsun, Bafra, Çarşamba, Terme, Vezirköprü, and Havza). In 2012, there were 9,604 members of the chamber of commerce and industry about 3/5 of them in Samsun city (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

 

A large part of Samsun province's exports are carried out by the industrial firms in the organized industrial zone. Iron-steel, grain products, motor vehicles, and machinery equipment constitute more than 50% of the province's exports. In 2012, about 230 firms in Samsun made exports to 139 different countries with total of 423 million dollars. Accordingly, Samsun's rank was 24^th in Turkey. However, in recent years, the export‟s average in the province was below the average in Turkey. For example, while the export volume in Turkey increased 13% in the period between 2011to 2012, it decreased 4.15% in Samsun (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

In 2012, 250 firms in Samsun made imports from 77 different countries with a total of 1.006 billion dollars and its rank in terms of import volume was 17^th among 81 provinces. In the period from 2011 to 2012, while the import average in Turkey decreased 1.78%, it increased 6.4% in Samsun (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

3.9. Tourism

 

Samsun province has a significant potential for tourism because it has a wide variety of natural and historical tourist attractions. However, due to the lack of promotion and investment in Samsun, the share of tourism in the province‟s economy has not reached the desired level yet (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

In 2010, 13 tourism facilities were established in Samsun province. The number of beds in these new investments is 1,429. In 2014, 20 tourism facilities in accommodation sector were established. These facilities included 1,278 rooms and 2,576 beds (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

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The highest number of foreigners arriving in Samsun by airlines in the period from 2002 to 2011 was in 2011 when 14,748 foreigners arrived in Samsun. In the same year (2011), about 26,021 Turkish citizens arrived by airlines as well (Yılmaz & Zeybek, 2016).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CHAPTER 4

 

 

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

 

 

 

 

 

 

4.1. Social and Demographic Features of the Respondents

 

Social and demographic features of both forced migrants and locals have a significant role in determining the impacts of forced migration on the displaced people as well as the impacts of the presence of forced migrants on the host community. In addition, in the light of these features, the results of the questionnaires and the answers of the respondents can be interpreted. Therefore, these features were provided at the beginning of this chapter.

 

4.1.1. Social and Demographic Features of the Forced Migrant Respondents

 

4.1.1.1. The age and gender distribution

 

The age of informants is very important in evaluating their responses. The answers are affected by the age stages of the people because of the differences of their experience and responsibilities as well as their expectation for their future.

 

As shown in the Table 4, the questionnaire has included 120 persons from forced migrants in Samsun. While 79.2% of them are males, just 20.8% of them are females. About 49.2 of them were in the age category 26-40, 25% in the age category 18-25, 16% in the age category 41-50, and just 9.23% in the age category 51-60 (Table 4).

 

The female respondents were less than the males because usually when I wanted to make the interview at their homes the men would introduce themselves as the respondents. The people who were interviewed out of their homes were mostly men,

 

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since because of cultural reasons their women do not go out alone. By including the women and children in the research the questionnaire, this represented the whole family not just the interviewees.

 

Every questionnaire has covered the situation of the family of the respondents and not just the situation of the respondent. Accordingly this questionnaire has covered 714 people distributed among 120 families. The arithmetic mean of these families is 5.95 people, with a total of 383 of them being males and 368 being females. About 305 of them are less than 18 years old.

 

 

Table 4: The age and gender composition of forced migrant respondents.

 

					Gender
					male	female	Total
	Age		18-25	Count	28	2	30
				% of Total	23.3	1.7	25.0
			26-40	Count	43	16	59
				% of Total	35.8	13.3	49.2
			41-50	Count	13	7	20
				% of Total	10.8	5.8	16.7
			51-60	Count	11	0	11
				% of Total	9.2	0.0	9.2
		Total		Count	95	25	120
				% of Total	79.2	20.8	100.0

 

 

 

4.1.1.2. Nationality

 

The respondents based on the nationality were 44.2% Syrians and 55.8% Iraqis (Table 5). The reasons of the differences in their percentage is that the number of Iraqi forced migrants in Samsun is much more than the Syrians as well as the areas of their staying are closed to the city center than the areas of Syrian.

 

The nationality is one of the most important variables to explain and interpret the results because of the big difference in their numbers and in the legal and economic situation of Syrians and Iraqis in Turkey.

 

 

 

 

 

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Table 5: The nationality of the respondents.

 

What is your nationality?

					Valid	Cumulative
			Frequency	Percent	Percent	Percent
	Valid	Syrian	53	44.2	44.2	44.2
		Iraqi	67	55.8	55.8	100.0
		Total	120	100.0	100.0

 

 

4.1.1.3.Marital Status

 

As shown in the Table 6, 26.7% of the respondents are single, 70.8% are married and 1.7% are widowed, as well as 0.8% divorced. This variable is important because it helps to understand the answers of the respondent in terms of their marital status. For example, the responsibilities of the respondents may vary based on their marital status so then their answers also will be affected. This question was followed with a question whether the respondent is the head of the family or not. Accordingly, 63.3% of the respondents have said that they are the head of their families, 90.8% of them are married, 2.6% are widowed, 5.3% are single, and 1.3% are divorced (Table 6)

 

 

Table 6: Marital status of the respondents

 

What is your marital status?

				Valid	Cumulative
		Frequency	Percent	Percent	Percent
Valid	single	32	26.7	26.7	26.7
	married	85	70.8	70.8	97.5
	divorced	1	.8	.8	98.3
	widowed	2	1.7	1.7	100.0
	Total	120	100.0	100.0

 

 

4.1.1.4.Educational Level

 

The importance of educational level of forced migrants in Samsun lies in many aspects. First, it helps in determining the size of skilled labor among them therefore expecting the areas of their service in the city. Second, it helps in determining the relation between their educational level and their job opportunities in the future. Third, it

 

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is important in expecting their next stage in Samsun whether they will complete their education or enter the labor market immediately.

 

As shown in the Table 7, the majority of the respondents, about 51.7%, have said that their educational level is bachelor and this percentage includes the bachelor holders as well as the respondents who are currently bachelor students. As well, 5.8% have vocational school level and 29.2% of them have high school level. In addition, 2.5% of them have a master degree and 1.7% has doctorate degree. However, 8.3% have said that their educational level is primary school and 0.8% is illiterate (Table 7).

 

 

Table 7: The educational level of forced migrant respondents.

 

What is your educational level?

				Valid	Cumulative
		Frequency	Percent	Percent	Percent
Valid	Primary school	10	8.3	8.3	8.3
	High school	35	29.2	29.2	37.5
	Vocational school	7	5.8	5.8	43.3
	Bachelor	62	51.7	51.7	95.0
	Master	3	2.5	2.5	97.5
	PhD	2	1.7	1.7	99.2
	Illiterate	1	.8	.8	100.0
	Total	120	100.0	100.0

 

4.1.1.5.Occupation

 

Forced migration has affected the occupation of forced migrants significantly. As shown in the Table 8, while 13.3% of the respondents have said that they were laborers before displacement, 26.7% have said that they are laborers currently. In addition, 37.5% of them were officers before the displacement; however, this percentage has significantly decreased to be just 4.2%. There is no big change in the percentages of house wives and students before and after the displacement. However, there is high decrease in the percentages of free businesses and farmers, while the occupation of 13.35% of the respondents was free businesses, just 3.3% of them have mentioned it to be their occupation and while 4.2% were farmers before the displacement, just 0.8% of them have said that their occupation is farmer in Samsun.

 

 

 

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Furthermore, while just 1.7% was unemployed before the displacement, 38.3% of them are currently unemployed (Table 8).

 

Table 8: The occupations of the respondents before and after the displacement

 

			Before displacement		After displacement
			Frequency	Percent	Frequency	Percent
Valid	laborer	16		13.3	32	26.7
	Officer	45		37.5	5	4.2
	Retired	2		1.7	0	0
	housewife		12	10.0	11	9.2
	student		22	18.3	21	17.5
	free business		16	13.3	4	3.3
	Farmer		5	4.2	1	.8
	unemployed		2	1.7	46	38.3
	Total		120	100.0	120	100.0

 

 

 

4.1.2. Social and Demographic Features of the Respondents from Host Community

 

4.1.2.1. The age and gender distribution

 

The questionnaire has covered 120 Turkish citizen respondents from the host community in order to understand the impacts of the presence of forced migrants on the city from the perspective of the host community.

 

Those respondents are distributed on the age categories and from the two genders. As shown in the Table 9, 68.3% of the respondents are males while 31.7% of them are females. About 34.2% of them are in the age category from 18 to 25 which includes the most of students in the university age. The respondents in the age category 26-40 constitute 24.2% of the respondents. In addition, 15% of them are in the age category 41-50. The respondent in the age category 51-60 constitutes 12.5% of the respondents. The respondents who are more than 61 years old constitute 14.2% (Table 9).

 

In all categories, the number of male respondents is higher than the number of females except in the 18-25 age categories where the female were more than males.

 

 

 

 

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Table 9: The age and gender composition of local respondents

 

			Gender
			Female	Male	Total
Age category	18-25	Count	26	15	41
		% of Total	21.7%	12.5%	34.2%
	26-40	Count	5	24	29
		% of Total	4.2%	20.0%	24.2%
	41-50	Count	3	15	18
		% of Total	2.5%	12.5%	15.0%
	51-60	Count	1	14	15
		% of Total	0.8%	11.7%	12.5%
	61+	Count	3	14	17
		% of Total	2.5%	11.7%	14.2%
Total		Count	38	82	120
		% of Total	31.7%	68.3%	100.0%

 

 

4.1.2.2. Educational Level

 

Educational level of local respondents is important to understand its effect on their thoughts about the presence of forced migrants in Samsun.

 

As shown in the Table 10 below, the educational level of 53.3% of the respondents is bachelor and the level of 4.2% of them is master. In addition to28.3% high school, 12.5% primary school, and 1.7%vocational school Table 10).

 

 

Table 10: The educational level of local respondents.

 

		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent
Valid	Primary education	15	12.5	12.5
	High school	34	28.3	28.3
	Vocational school	2	1.7	1.7
	Bachelor	64	53.3	53.3
	Master	5	4.2	4.2
	Total	120	100.0	100.0
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4.1.2.3. Marital Status

 

According to the questionnaire, 55% of the respondents are singles, 40.8% of them are married, and 4.2% are divorced.

 

4.1.2.4. Occupation

 

The occupation of the local respondents is important in determining how were they affected by the presence of forced migrants in the city because it affects them differently. As shown in the Table 11, 15.8% of the respondents are laborers, 24.2% are officers, and 16.7% are doing free businesses. In addition to 18.3% retired respondents, 5% housewives and 20% students (Table 11).

 

 

Table 11: The occupations of the local respondents.

 

		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent
Valid	Laborer	19	15.8	15.8
	Officer	29	24.2	24.2
	Retired	22	18.3	18.3
	Housewife	6	5.0	5.0
	Student	24	20.0	20.0
	Free business	20	16.7	16.7
	Total	120	100.0	100.0

 

4.2. Reasons of Leaving and Choosing Samsun

 

4.2.1. Reasons of Leaving the Home Country

 

The deterioration of the security conditions in Syria and Iraq was the main push factor that caused the displacement of forced migrants from their home countries (Table 12, Figure 5). About 94.2% of the respondents have said that they were forced to leave for security reasons. The ongoing civil war in Syria since 2011 has displaced millions of Syrians either internally or internationally. More than 2.7 million of them have arrived in Turkey and spread across the country. Likewise in Iraq, the escalation of violence and human rights violations in 2014 led hundreds of thousands to flee to Turkey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Table 12: The reasons of leaving the home country by nationality

 

				Why did you leave your country?
				security reasons	education		Total
What is your		Syrian	Count	48	5	53
nationality?
			% of Total	40.0%	4.2%	44.2%
		Iraqi	Count	65	2	67
			% of Total	54.2%	1.7%	55.8%
Total			Count	113	7	120
			% of Total	94.2%	5.8%	100.0%

 

Figure 5: The reasons of leaving the home country by nationality

 

 

In addition to the security factor, 5.8% of them have mentioned the education factor as the reason of leaving their country. Some of them were already studying in Turkey when the war started in their country and they could not go back. In addition, some of them have chosen to study in Turkey rather than in their home country in order to flee the disorders in their countries. Besides, draft evasion is one of the reasons that push some Syrian students to study in Turkey. For example, one of the interviewees is a Syrian student and he said that he can go back to his country right now and his area is safe but he is studying in Turkey to be able to avoid the forced recruitment, and as he

 

 

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said, based on the Syrian law, if the person stays more than 5 years abroad, he can pay a fine to avoid the forced recruitment.

 

These are the reasons for leaving the home countries. However, the reasons of choosing Samsun to be their destination are different.

 

4.2.2. Why did they move to Samsun?

 

Samsun is relatively far away from the borders with both Syria and Iraq where the most of forced migrants in Turkey have come from. However, it has witnessed the influx of thousands of them during the last 4 years, especially after the beginning of the militant conflict in Syria in 2011 and the deterioration of the security situations in Iraq in 2014. Their influx is still going on as long as these conflicts are still escalating and without any possible solution in sight.

 

 

According to the results of the questionnaire, there are many reasons that have pushed the forced migrants to move to Samsun which can be considered as pull factors.

 

Table 13 and Figure 6 show the pull factors that attracted the forced migrants to Samsun and how these factors vary based on the nationality of the forced migrants. 31.7% of the respondents stated that they have moved to Samsun because of the presence of members of their families or friends in the city, citing this as the main reason for choosing Samsun. Just 9.2% were Syrians while 22.5% were Iraqis. Economic reasons came as the second largest pull factor as 21.7% cited moving to the city for economic purposes. In addition, seeking education in Samsun has attracted 15% of the respondents, mostly Syrians, to come and live in Samsun. About 15.8% of the respondents, all of them being Iraqi and especially the asylum seekers, were sent to Samsun by the Turkish authorities and cannot leave and move to another place without permission which is difficult to obtain. Security and social factors have pulled 5% of the informants while 10.8% percent of them have mentioned other factors as their reasons for choosing Samsun (Table 13, figure 6).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Table 13: The reasons of choosing Samsun by nationality.

 

				What is your
				nationality?
Why did you chose to live in Samsun?				Syrian	Iraqi	Total
		economic reasons	Count	20	6	26
			% of Total	16.7%	5.0%	21.7%
		presence of	Count	11	27	38
		relatives/friends	% of Total	9.2%	22.5%	31.7%
		education	Count	15	3	18
			% of Total	12.5%	2.5%	15.0%
		security and social	Count	3	3	6
		reasons	% of Total	2.5%	2.5%	5.0%
		sent by authorities	Count	0	19	19
			% of Total	0.0%	15.8%	15.8%
		other	Count	4	9	13
			% of Total	3.3%	7.5%	10.8%
		Total	Count	53	67	120
			% of Total	44.2%	55.8%	100.0%

 

 

Figure 6: Chart showing the reasons of choosing Samsun by forced migrants

 

 

 

 

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4.2.2.1. Education Factor

 

A high percentage of forced migrants are in the ages of school or university level. Despite their difficult situations and the uncertainty of their future, many of them have decided to complete their studies as a guarantee for their future and to contribute in rebuilding their countries. Consequently, while seeking acceptance in the Turkish universities, some of them have gotten acceptance to study in Samsun at Ondokuz Mayis University, which is a large and well known university in Turkey. Then they moved to live and study in Samsun. Some families did not want to separate their families, as well as they cannot afford renting two homes in different places, so they moved to Samsun and lived together with their family members. Additionally, some Syrian and Iraqi students have gotten scholarships from the Turkish government or non-government organizations and have been sent to universities in Samsun. Later, their families in Syria and Iraq have been forced to leave their countries and so they came to Samsun because a member of their family was already studying in the city.

 

 

Moreover, some forced migrant students in Samsun have invited their friends who were in other Turkish cities or still in their countries to come and study in Samsun because it has good universities and an appropriate environment for studying, as well as the possibility of getting grants and help for their education in Samsun. For instance, some interviewee students stated that they get monthly payments from local donors and some have received free or discounted accommodation in dormitories.

 

Furthermore, the availability of good Turkish language centers in the city, such as TÖMER, have attracted some students to move to Samsun because it is not available in all cities or because of the flexibility in Samsun‟s language centers. For example, I interviewed an Iraqi family that have been sent by the Turkish authorities to Çorum City. However, the unavailability of a Turkish and Foreign Languages Research and ApplicationCenter (TÖMER) in the city has led the head of the family to move to Samsun where the center is available. At the time of the interview, he was trying to get permission from the authority to allow his family to move to Samsun too because he cannot go to Çorum during the week. In addition, in Samsun there are free Turkish language courses provided by municipalities or non-government organizations where his

 

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children can learn Turkish for free because the family cannot afford sending them to TÖMER which costs 4,000 TL for each person.

 

While the study found that 12% of the respondents decided to live in Samsun for educational reasons, just 3% were from Iraq and the remaining 9% were from Syria. There are some reasons standing behind this difference. First, the education for Syrian students in Turkish universities is free, while it‟s not free for Iraqi students. This makes it easier for Syrian students to get enrolled in universities. Second, in general there are many more Syrian scholarship holders in Turkey than Iraqi. For example, only one Iraqi student stated that he is a scholarship holder in Samsun. Third, Iraqis in Turkey are mostly asylum seekers waiting to be accepted to move to a third country.

 

 

4.2.2.2. Security and Social Factors

 

Some families, especially ones who have suffered a lot or who do not have relatives in other cities, have preferred to settle in Samsun because of their desire to be far away from the crowded areas with refugees, such as the border cities by Syria and the large cities such as Istanbul and Ankara.

 

Besides, some families have moved to Samsun because of the absence of a hostility against them which exists in some cities by specific groups. For example, I met a Syrian family that stated that they moved to Samsun from a border city by Syria because of the hostility against them by their neighbors in the same building. In comparison, their neighbors in Samsun visit them regularly and provided them with the necessary furniture when they moved to their house in Samsun.

 

Another reason is the desire of staying far from the big cities as well as from every place close to the fields of war. Hence, Samsun was the best destination for those people because of its remoteness from the borders and because it can be considered as a small city relatively and a city that has a developed infrastructure.

 

4.2.2.3. Economic Factor

 

A high percentage (20%) of the respondents chose the economic reasons to be the pull factor that led forced migrants to live in Samsun. According to the results of the questionnaire, 15.8% were Syrians while the rest, just 4.2%, were Iraqis. This difference between them is because some of Iraqis have come to Samsun for more than one reason

 

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and in the interview they mentioned the main one while the economic factor was not the main one. The economic reasons are represented in many shapes.

 

First of all, some respondents have pointed that the low rental prices in Samsun compared to the other cities significantly affected their decision to live in Samsun. The rental prices in the bordering cities with Syria have increased significantly due to the increasing demand by forced migrants in these cities. In the large cities, the prices are also high because of the demand by both the internal and forced migrants, while the prices in the small cities can be also high because of a lack in the offered houses for rent. Thus, Samsun constituted a good choice in terms of the rental prices especially for the forced migrants who arrived early when there was not a high number of them in Samsun. For example, an Iraqi respondent mentioned that he was living in Istanbul for one year before he moved with his family to Samsun. The rental price was 1200 TL per a month for a small, normal house far from the center. Now, in Samsun he is paying just 400TL for a house that has better conditions than the one in Istanbul and he is using the rest (800 TL) to meet the basic needs of his family.

 

 

Second, the living cost in Samsun is relatively lower than the big cities especially in the west of Turkey and the prices of some goods and the food in the restaurants are cheaper which makes it more affordable for the forced migrants than the expensive cities such as Istanbul. In addition, the simplicity of the transportation system in Samsun and availability of cheap public transport services that can reach most of the neighborhoods in the city contribute in decreasing the cost of living and easing the life of its inhabitants for both locals and forced migrants.

 

Third, since the living cost is relatively low, some forced migrants are thinking that even if salaries in Samsun are low and the job opportunities are limited in specific sectors, getting a low wage job can cover the basic needs of the family much better than in the big and expensive cities. Besides, in some cities, getting a job has become a difficult issue because of the presence of high numbers of job seekers in the cities where the forced migrants are concentrated. Therefore, some forced migrants have come with a hope that they can find jobs in Samsun after they could not get one in other cities.

 

 

 

 

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Last but not least, some families and individuals have brought an amount of capital with them from their home country and they wanted to invest it in Turkey to create an income source for their families. This investment can be by opening a small market or restaurant for selling the traditional products and food. Due to limitations in the available capital, investors are looking for a place where they can accomplish their projects with as little cost as possible. Samsun constitutes a potential place for implementing such projects because of the availability of cheap rental prices and a wide market for selling their products.

 

 

4.2.2.4. Turkish Authorities

 

As mentioned before in the legal framework of forced migrants in Turkey, the Syrian forced migrants have been given a temporary protection card and allowed to stay in Turkey as long as they cannot go back to Syria, while other migrants including Iraqis have been given an international protection card and allowed to stay in Turkey until they get acceptance to move to a third country by cooperation with the UNHCR. However, during the asylum process they have specific provinces where they can stay and they regularly have to prove their presence in the province they have chosen or have been sent to. Thus, 15% of the respondents, all of them Iraqis, have been sent to Samsun by Turkish authorities.

 

In addition, when the respondents were asked whether they are allowed by the Turkish authorities to change their city of residence, 41.7% stated that they are not allowed to change their city of residence, while 58.3% of them can change it (Table 14, Figure 7). This percentage explains part of the reasons for choosing Samsun. However, some of those people chose to be in Samsun when they applied for asylum and now they cannot change it. Also, some of them said that they cannot change the city of residence while they are staying illegally in Samsun and their names are registered at another province. Last but not least, some of the forced migrants in Samsun lack the knowledge of whether they can change it or not. For example, during the interviews, it was noticeable that some respondents have said that they can change the city of residence despite the fact that they cannot do that.

 

 

 

 

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Table 14: The ability of forced migrants to change the city of residence?

 

Are you allowed to change your city of residence?

			Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	yes		70	58.3	58.3	58.3
	no		50	41.7	41.7	100.0
	Total		120	100.0	100.0

 

 

Figure 7: The ability of forced migrants to change the city of residence?

 

In 2013, the authorities started sending asylum seekers to Samsun when it was opened for them. At that time, part of the Iraqi asylum seekers came. While it was still allowed to choose Samsun, the Iraqis in Samsun told their friends and relatives who were thinking about leaving Iraq to choose Samsun because of the good conditions of the asylum seekers in the city, as well as to be together. Thus, many of the Iraqis who came later asked to be allowed to stay in Samsun.

 

Later, Samsun was closed to asylum seekers and other provinces were opened. However, some of the Iraqis who came after came at first to Samsun because they had friends or family members in the city, and then they rented houses and settled in the city. After a while they applied for asylum, but the results of their applications took significant time and they were then told to move to another city.

 

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After settling in Samsun, moving to another city is costly and not easy for the families. This issue has led many families to stay in Samsun illegally while their names are registered in different provinces. At the same time, they have to prove their presence in those provinces once a week or at least once every two weeks which is also costly and constitutes big problems for those people. Additionally, they cannot access the public services in Samsun and must go to the cities where they are registered if they want to have access to these services.

 

In addition, many families came later and did not want to be sent to another province, so they did not register at any national or international organization. This act has led to the presence of a high number of non-registered forced migrants in Samsun. Those people do not get any official recognition and they do not have the right to access the public services, such as education and health services.

 

 

4.2.2.4.1. Examples of Illegal or Unregistered Forced Migrants in Samsun

 

During the field study and interview conducting, I interviewed many cases of people staying in Samsun illegally. For example, one Iraqi family consisting of 7 members came to Samsun because of the presence of their relatives. They rented a house and stayed about 4 months and after applying for asylum they were told to move to Sinop city. However, they do not know anyone there and all of their family are staying in Samsun, so they stayed in Samsun and they go once every week to Sinop to prove their presence at the police office.

 

In another example, one Iraqi family consisting of 13 members came to Samsun at first and they did not apply for asylum because they do not have enough money to afford going to Ankara to register or to move to another city and rent a new house. Two of the family members were sick and needed emergency medical intervention, but they did not have the right to access the free health services. A 7 year old child in the family “ Abdurrahman” was in need of an operation which costs 1200 TL, but the family did not have this amount ( Figure 8). Thus, local non-governmental organizations had to ask locals for donations and the required amount were gathered. The operation was done but the family is still living illegally without the right to access public services, such as schools or health for other family members.

 

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Figure 8: “Abdurrahman” the Iraqi forced migrant after the operation.

 

Since Samsun is closed for new asylum seekers to live in, there are some legal ways that the forced migrants can follow to get permission to move to Samsun. One of them is to have an immediate family member living in Samsun. The second is to have a medical report that shows that the applicant has to stay in Samsun. Some people have received the medical report and therefore have permission to move to Samsun because they must be close to the hospital in Samsun.

 

4.2.2.5. Presence of Relatives or Friends

 

This factor is significantly related all other factors. In some cases, the new arrivals come immediately to Samsun because they want to be with their relatives or friends who have arrived earlier because they think it can mitigate the effects of displacement and alienation.

 

Other respondents have said that when they had to move they asked their friends or relatives about the city and its economic, social, educational, security and weather conditions and when they got positive answers they decided to move to the city. For example, one Syrian respondent from Aleppo said that when the situation in his area became hard to stay in he started thinking about leaving to Turkey. Since he did not know anything about Turkey, he asked his friend in Samsun and he told him to move to

 

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Samsun and he will help him in renting a cheap house and the locals will help him in furnishing it. Then he moved directly from Syria to Samsun.

 

Thus, many respondents (31.7%) stated that they came because of the presence of their relatives in the city. In reality, however, most of them learned about the city from their relatives and came because they have been told positive things.

 

4.2.2.6. Other Reasons

 

In addition to the previous reasons, many factors have affected the forced migrants‟ decisions in moving to Samsun.

 

 

4.2.2.6.1. Health Services

 

Samsun has many hospitals and has one of the biggest and best hospitals in Turkey. Many forced migrants have chronic illnesses caused by aging or war. Therefore, some ill forced migrants have decided to move to Samsun to receive treatment in its hospitals or health centers. For instance, one of the respondents said that he was living in Istanbul but the overcrowded hospitals make it difficult to get the necessary treatment because he had to wait for long time every time he goes to the hospital. He then moved with his family to Samsun where the process is easier and the hospital is less crowded.

 

4.2.2.6.2. The Sea Factor

 

The location of Samsun city on the Black Sea has motivated some forced migrants to move to it to enjoy the sea, especially in summer. Additionally, the cornice on the Black Sea is also attracting some forced migrants to stay in the city and enjoy walking along the cornice and doing sports there which they said can mitigate the effects of alienation.

 

The possibility of living close to the sea has also attracted some families, especially the affluent families, to move to Samsun and rent or buy a house close to the sea which is not available in their origin countries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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4.2.2.6.3. The Nature Attractiveness

 

The fascinating nature of the Black Sea region in general, and Samsun in particular, constitutes a pull factor for some forced migrants. For example, an Iraqi respondent has stated that he decided to come and stay in Samsun when he saw the pictures of the nature views on social media in addition to its mild climate.

 

4.2.3. The Reasons of Choosing Samsun from the Locals Perspective

 

According to the questionnaire for the locals, when they were asked about the reasons that pushed the forced migrants to come to Samsun, 83.3% of them have said that the security reasons played the largest role in their decision to move to Samsun (Table 15, Figure 9). However, according to the answers of forced migrants, the security factor played the largest role in their decision to leave their country but not in their decision to move to Samsun.

 

 

Table 15: The reasons why forced migrants have come to Samsun from

the Locals Perspective

		Frequency	Percent
Valid	Job opportunities	14	11.7
	Education	2	1.7
	Security	100	83.3
	Relatives/friends	3	2.5
	Health reasons	1	.8
	Total	120	100.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 9: The reasons why forced migrants have come to Samsun from the Locals Perspective

 

 

This misconception by locals is stemming from the lack of enough communication between them and the forced migrants as well as the lack of knowledge of the circumstances associated with the displacement movement.

 

About 2.7% of the respondents have considered the educational reason as the reason of pushing the forced migrants to Samsun, and 2.5% said that the presence of relatives or friends is the reason of making Samsun a destination for forced migrants. However, just 0.8% of them considered the health factor to be the reason of choosing Samsun.

 

4.3. Legal Situation

 

4.3.1. Entry

 

Some requirements should be met by the Iraqis and Syrians to be able to cross the borders. For Syrians, they do not need a visa, but they should have a passport while Iraqis need a visa to be able to enter. In addition, because of the security circumstances in the border areas, as well as the presence of tens of thousands of forced migrants trying to cross the border at the same time, Turkish authorities are sometimes pushed to close

 

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the borders temporarily. The closure of the borders and the unavailability of passports or visas lead some forced migrants to cross the borders illegally.

 

As shown in Table 16 and Figure 10 below, 71.7% of the respondents have entered Turkey legally through the borders; however, 28.3% have crossed the borders illegally. While 92% of the respondents who do not have passports have entered illegally, just 11.6% of passport holders have entered illegally. These percentages show the strong relation between the illegal entry and the possession of a passport. Nonetheless, about 8% of the respondents who do not have passports have entered legally and 11.6% of passport holders have entered illegally. Accordingly, the relation between the way of entry and the possession of passport can be understood as followed (Table 16, Figure 10).

 

 

First of all, in some cases, the Turkish authority closes the borders because of the deterioration of the security conditions near the borders. At the same time, many people are being forced to flee because of this escalation and the only way to reach Turkey is by crossing the borders illegally even when they have passports.

 

Second, some of them did not have passports or some of their family members did not have passports or visas in the case of Iraqis. Consequently, they cross the borders illegally.

 

Last but not least, in some cases, Turkish authorities have allowed some forced migrants who do not have passports to cross the borders because of the threat on their lives if they stay in their home country. However, all forced migrants in Turkey even who entered illegally have a right to register and apply for either temporary or international protection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Table 16: The relation between the possession of a passport and the way of entry.

 

				Did you enter to Turkey
				legally?
				yes		no	Total
Do you have a		yes	Count	84		11	95
passport?			% within do you have a	88.4%		11.6%	100.0%
			passport?
			% of Total	70.0%		9.2%	79.2%
		no	Count	2		23	25
			% within do you have a	8.0%		92.0%	100.0%
			passport?
			% of Total	1.7%		19.2%	20.8%
Total			Count	86		34	120
			% within do you have a	71.7%		28.3%	100.0%
			passport?
			% of Total	71.7%		28.3%	100.0%

 

 

Figure 10: The relation between the possession of a passport and the way of entry.

 

 

4.3.2. Legal Status

 

After arriving in Turkey, forced migrants should apply for temporary protection under the LFIP if they are Syrians and for asylum seekers at the Directorate General for Migration Management if they are non-Syrians. Later, after the assessment of their applications, they will be given temporary or international protection cards. This card

 

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refers to their legal status and allows them to access to their rights while they are in Turkey.

 

According to the questionnaire, 71.7% of the respondents have received either temporary or international protection cards (Table 17, Figure 11). This means that they are staying in Turkey legally and have a right of access to the public services. However, 28.3% of them do not have this card for many reasons which mean theoretically that they are staying illegally and do not have a right of access to the public services. Unregistered forced migrants are also not included in the governmental numbers and lists of the forced migrants in Samsun.

 

 

Table 17: The temporary/international protection card holders.

 

Did you get the protection card from the Turkish authorities?

			Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	yes		86	71.7	71.7	71.7
	no		34	28.3	28.3	100.0
	Total		120	100.0	100.0

 

Figure 11: The temporary/international protection card holders

 

 

 

 

 

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4.3.3. Reasons of Not Having Temporary/International Protection Card

 

As mentioned before, about 28.3% of the respondents do not have temporary or international legal status. However, according to the questionnaire, that does not mean that they do not have a legal status in Turkey. At the same time, holding the protections card does not necessarily mean they have a right of access to public and social services.

 

About 18.2% of those people said that they have not yet applied for the card for various reasons (Table 18, Figure 12). First, some of them moved to Turkey recently and they are planning to apply soon. Second, some of them, especially the non-Syrian forced migrants, do not want to register because they do not want to be sent to another city even if that will deprive them of access to their rights as asylum seekers. Third, some people said that they are afraid of being registered because of their concerns of being deported to their countries. Additionally, 9.1% of them said that they do not need the protection status because they are staying in Samsun temporary and they will go back to their countries soon.

 

 

In addition, 3% of forced migrants who do not have a protection card said, as shown in the Table 19 below, that they do not have the right to apply because they have violated the asylum law during their stay in Turkey.

 

Furthermore, 12.1% of them have applied for the protection status recently and they did not get their cards yet. Those people cannot access the social services, such as health and education, unless they get their protection cards.

 

Moreover, some of the people who have entered illegally because they do not have a passport did not register themselves at the authorities and did not apply for the protection status because they are afraid of being deported. This shows that there is a lack of awareness about the asylum procedures and the rights of asylum seekers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Table 18: The reasons for not having a temporary/international card.

 

If you do not have the temporary/international

card, why?

				No	Total
		I did not apply for it yet.	Count	6	6
			% of Total	18.2%	18.2%
		I don't have right to apply for it.	Count	1	1
			% of Total	3.0%	3.0%
		I applied and still waiting.	Count	4	4
			% of Total	12.1%	12.1%
		I do not want it.	Count	3	3
			% of Total	9.1%	9.1%
		I don't have passport	Count	6	6
			% of Total	18.2%	18.2%
		other	Count	13	13
			% of Total	39.4%	39.4%
	Total		Count	33	33
			% of Total	100.0%	100.0%

 

 

Figure 12: The reasons for not having a temporary/international card.

 

 

Besides, some forced migrants in Samsun have different types of residence permits. For example, some students have gotten student residence permits. Therefore, they are forced migrants, but their legal status is as a student. Additionally, many forced

 

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migrants have entered Turkey without a visa and have not yet finished the legal period of staying without visa. Also, some of them have gotten a work permit and they have a working visa.

 

4.3.4. Asylum Seekers

 

According to the questionnaire, 44.2% of the respondents are asylum seekers (Table 19, Figure 13). However, since Turkey is still keeping the geographical limitation on accepting asylum seekers, those people will not be given permanent residence permits in Turkey. Instead, they applied for asylum under the UNHCR and during the assessment process of their applications they will be given international protection cards and will stay in Turkey. Later, if they get accepted, they will be resettled in a third country.

 

 

In terms of the nationality of the asylum seekers, the vast majority of them are Iraqis. While 77.6% of the Iraqi forced migrants are asylum seekers, just 1.9% of Syrian forced migrants have stated that they are asylum seekers.

 

In addition, 22.4% of Iraqis have said that they are not asylum seekers. Those people can be non-registered and they are staying illegally in Turkey. Furthermore, some of them have arrived in Turkey as tourists and their visas are still valid. Additionally, some of them, especially among students or workers, have other types of residence permits.

 

However, 98.1% of Syrian respondents are not asylum seekers. Those people are either temporary protection holders, who have been given permission to stay in Turkey as long as they cannot go back to their country, or non-registered yet who are staying illegally, or Syrians who hold other types of residence permits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Table 19: Asylum seekers by nationality.

 

				Are you an asylum seeker?
				yes	no		Total
What is your		Syrian	Count	1	52	53
nationality?			% within what is your	1.9%	98.1%	100.0%
			nationality?
			% of Total	0.8%	43.3%	44.2%
		Iraqi	Count	52	15	67
			% within what is your	77.6%	22.4%	100.0%
			nationality?
			% of Total	43.3%	12.5%	55.8%
Total			Count	53	67	120
			% within what is your	44.2%	55.8%	100.0%
			nationality?
			% of Total	44.2%	55.8%	100.0%

 

Figure 13: Asylum seekers by nationality

 

 

 

 

 

 

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4.3.5. The expected date for resettlement

 

Because of the large number of asylum seekers in Turkey and due to the extensive length of the assessment process of the applications, the asylum seekers in Samsun are expecting to stay for a long time. When the asylum seekers were asked about the expected date for resettlement in a third country, only 64.2% of them answered the question, while the rest did not answer because of the uncertainty of the date as well as if they will be accepted or not.

 

Ten of the respondents said that they are expected to be resettled by 2020 which means that they will stay in Samsun at least for the next 4 years (Table 20, Figure 14). In addition, 17 respondents are expecting to be resettled before 2020, and 7 of the respondents are expecting to be resettled after 2020.

 

 

Table 20: The expected date of resettlement for asylum seekers.

 

			Are you an
			asylum
			seeker?
			yes	Total
When do you	2017	Count	7	7
expect to be		% of Total	20.6%	20.6%
resettled in a third	2018	Count	6	6
country?		% of Total	17.6%	17.6%
	2019	Count	4	4
		% of Total	11.8%	11.8%
	2020	Count	10	10
		% of Total	29.4%	29.4%
	2022	Count	4	4
		% of Total	11.8%	11.8%
	2024	Count	3	3
		% of Total	8.8%	8.8%
Total		Count	34	34
		% of Total	100.0%	100.0%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 14: The expected date of resettlement for asylum seekers

 

These expectations are just personal expectations and they are not based on any dates determined by the UNHCR. Therefore, the respondents who expected to be settled before 2020 have depended, in their answers, on some previous cases that took specific time or on promises by the UNHCR for some special cases. However, the people who said that they are expecting to be resettled by or after 2020 have answered based on the dates of the interview by the UNHCR. For instance, some of the respondents have a date for the interview in 2019 or 2020, because of that they do not expect to be resettled in a third country before those dates.

 

The legal status of forced migrants in Samsun has significant influences on their life in the city in many aspects. First of all, it determines the future possibilities of their staying in Turkey. For example, if they apply for asylum, their situation and staying conditions will be different than if they apply for the temporary protection. In addition, it is important to obtain the right to access social services and to legalize their staying to not be subjected to legal accountability. Furthermore, legalizing their staying makes them feels safe and allows them to plan for their next steps while they are in Turkey such as looking for a job or completing their education.

 

 

 

 

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4.4. Housing

 

4.4.1. Area of Living in Samsun

 

When the forced migrants started coming to Samsun, most of them rented homes and lived near the city center which is located in Ilkadim municipality for various reasons. First of all, it was the first area that they arrived in when they came to Samsun because of the city center and started looking for homes to rest near this area. Second, the rental prices were considered relatively cheap in this area. Later, when the other migrants came to Samsun, they rented homes close to the homes of their relatives and friends which increased the number of forced migrants in this area. According to the questionnaire, 45.8% of the respondents said that they live in Ilkadim municipality (Table 21, Figure 15). The vast majority of them are Iraqis. According to the questionnaire, 81.8% of forced migrant respondents in Ilkadim municipality are from Iraq and 67.2% of Iraqi respondents live in Ilkadim. In addition, most of the interviews were done in the area near to the city center because meeting with forced migrants there is easier than other places. Moreover, the average rental price in this municipality is 373 TL which is a relatively low price.

 

 

Table 21: The distribution of respondents on municipalities in Samsun.

 

		Frequency	Percent
Valid	Tekkeköy	2	1.7
	Canik	38	31.7
	Ilkadım	55	45.8
	Atakum	25	20.8
	Total	120	100.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 15: Distribution map of the respondents on municipalities in Samsun

 

The second largest percentage of the respondents, about 31.7%, live in Canik municipality. They said that the most important reasons are the cheap rental prices and the presence of their relatives or friends there. In this municipality, 81.6% of the respondents are Syrian. Out of all the Syrian respondents interviewed, 58.5% of them live in Canik municipality. The average monthly rental price in this area, according to the respondents, is 390 TL.

 

Next, 20.8% of the respondents live in Atakum municipality. This percentage is less than in both Ilkadım and Canik because the living costs and rental prices are higher than in other municipalities as well as the lifestyle of people there is different than the lifestyle of the forced migrants according to some respondents. The average monthly rental price is 458 TL which is much higher than other municipalities. There is no significant difference between the number of Syrians and Iraqis who live in Atakum. There are 13 Iraqi respondents and 12 Syrian respondents live in Atakum.

 

In terms of the respondents who live in Tekkeköy, only 1.7% of the respondents reported living there. This area is relatively far from the center and people prefer to be in

 

 

 

 

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areas close to the center. The average rental price of houses is 300 TL but this number is not reliable because just two respondents from this area were covered.

 

4.4.2. Effects on Housing Situation

 

The housing situation of forced migrants has been affected significantly because of the displacement. While 71.7% of the respondents were living in their own homes in their countries, 97.5% of them live in rented homes in Samsun in addition to the 2.5% of them who live in hostels or dormitories. This means that after the majority of them were living in their own homes, they live now in rented homes and pay money monthly to be able to stay in these houses which affects their entire economic conditions negatively and every month they need to deduct an amount of their income while they were not deducting it before the displacement.

 

 

According to the questionnaire, the average monthly rental price is 394 TL (Table 22). This average varies based on the houses‟ conditions, the location of the house, and the time of arrival.

 

Table 22: The average rental price by year of arrival (TL)

 

Year of arrival in Samsun?	Mean	N
2013	367.14	7
2014	377.54	57
2015	416.30	54
Total	394.71	119

 

 

When the first groups of forced migrants came to Samsun, the prices were relatively low and they lived in the areas where the prices were low. In addition, there was a sympathy for forced migrants from the local community and they were not looking at them from the economic dimension. Therefore, the average rental price was 367 TL in 2013 and as shown in the table 23, it was lower than any of the following years.

 

Later, the number of forced migrants increased and they started concentrating in specific areas. The real estate offices and the landlords started looking at them from the economic dimension as a new income source. In many cases, the landlords have exploited their urgent need for houses and the lack of their knowledge about rental

 

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prices in Samsun and gave them homes with expensive rental prices. In addition, some forced migrants who came earlier have started working in real estate and increased the prices for the new arrivals. Thus, the average has increased to be 377 TL in 2014 and 416 TL for arrivals in 2015. Hence, there is a noticeable relation in rental price and the year of arrival.

 

Furthermore, forced migrants have started spreading in new areas in the city such as in Atakum which led to increase the average rental price ( Table 23).

 

Table 23: The average rental price by municipality (TL).

 

 

Municipality	Mean	N
Tekkekoy	300.00	2
Canik	390.79	38
Ilkadim	373.09	55
Atakum	458.33	24
Total	394.71	119

 

 

4.4.3. Where were they living before they rented their current home?

 

When the forced migrants were asked about where were they staying before they moved to their current place, 35% of them said that they were hosted by their relatives or friends and it is close to the percentage of the respondents who said that they came to Samsun because of the presence of their relatives or friends in the city, which is 31%. In addition, this has affected their distribution in the city because those people in general have rented homes close to their relatives and friends.

 

Many forced migrants stay at hotels and hostels in the first period when they come to Samsun. According to the questionnaire, 35% of the respondents have stayed at hotels or hostels before they moved to their current homes. This shows that the presence of the forced migrants in Samsun have constituted an income sources for the hotel industry.

 

In addition, 15% of them were living in other rented homes before they moved to their current one. Some people rented homes when they came to Samsun and later for many reasons they decided to change them.

 

 

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Some people said that they stayed for few days in the parks in the city because they did not have money to stay at hotel or hostel or because they did not know where to go or how to communicate with people in the city.

 

4.4.4. The Ways of Furnishing the House

 

The displacement has affected the ability of the forced migrants to furnish their homes, as well as their ability to prepare the homes with all necessary furniture. Not a single respondent said that they furnished their home with new furniture. However, 100% percent of their furniture is secondhand, and 12.5% of them rented the homes furnished. While 45% of them have furnished their homes with secondhand furniture on their own, 21.7% of them got furniture as a help from a neighbor or local donors as well as some non-governmental organizations, and 2.5% of them by themselves and by the help of a neighbor or local donors.

 

 

Many homes that I visited while I was conducting the research were almost empty and without appropriate furniture (Figure 16,17,18,19). For example, I visited the home of an Iraqi family consisting of 13 members, 8 of them were sleeping on a thin carpet and one old mattress that their neighbor have given to them without any blankets to cover themselves. The kitchen was empty except a small stove and an empty fridge (Figure 20,21). The family was living for 2 weeks without water and one week without electricity. The mother was bringing the water from the public garden in their neighborhood. Two of the children were sick and they could not take them to the hospital because they were staying illegally in Samsun. This is one example from so many miserable cases for forced migrant families in Samsun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 16: Forced migrant children in Samsun sleep on the kitchen‟s floor.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 17: This carpet constitutes the bedroom for a forced migrant family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 18: Iraqi forced migrant family lives in unfurnished room.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 19: An unfurnished house inhabited by forced migrant family.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 20: An empty fridge at house inhabited by 13 forced migrants.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 21: An empty kitchen at house inhabited by 13 forced migrants.

 

 

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As a result, the movement of displaced people to Samsun has negatively affected the ability of forced migrants to furnish their homes as well as forced many of them to use secondhand furniture instead of new furniture as when they were in their home country. In addition, as both the forced migrants and locals have said, the prices of secondhand furniture have increased because of the high demand on it by the forced migrants.

 

4.4.5. Some Notes Related to the Housing Issue

 

Housing is one of the biggest issues that faces the forced migrants in Samsun and constitutes a big challenge for a high percentage of them. Many families are facing big problems because of their inability to pay the rent and many of them were kicked out of their houses in Samsun because of a delay in paying their rent. Many families have been forced to ask people for help or to borrow money. In addition, some people are working long hours for a low salary just in order to get the rent money to be able to stay in the house.

 

 

Some local donors and local associations are helping many families in paying their rent and finding cheap houses. However, Turkish authorities are asking those associations to provide them with the information about the amounts and the recipients of this assistance, saying that they should be registered legally in the city to be able to receive the help which creates complications.

 

Moreover, the requirements for renting houses have become hard to meet because the real estate offices and landlords need high deposits and take large amounts of money as a commission. In many cases, the landlords refuse to give them the deposit money back when they leave the houses.

 

Additionally, there are many families that their economic levels are high or medium, especially among the Iraqis, and many landlords are dealing with all forced migrant based on that which constitutes significant challenges for a large section of the population.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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4.4.6. Effects on Housing from Locals Perspective

 

In terms of the questionnaire for locals, 51% of them live in Ilkadım municipality, 21.7% in Canik, 22.5% in Atakum, and 4.2% in Tekkeköy. While 64.2% of them live in their own houses, 35.8% of them live in rented houses.

 

The average monthly rental price for the locals who live in rented houses is 544 TL which is higher than the average rental price for the forced migrants for many reasons. First, the number of respondents who live in rented houses is less than the number of them among forced migrant respondents, therefore it does not cover the same group size. Second, the economic situation of locals is better than the situation of the forced migrants and this allows them to rent better quality houses. Third, according to some locals, the forced migrants have rented low quality houses and some of them are uninhabitable with high rental prices for such houses, therefore the landlords increased the rental prices of middle and high quality houses.

 

 

The vast majority of locals have said that the average rental price in Samsun has increased in the last 2 years. As shown in the Table 24, while 33.3% of them said that the rental price increased significantly, 46.7% of them said that it was a slight increase. In addition to 16.7% said that there were no changes on the rental prices and 3.3% of them said that they do not know whether there was a change or not (Table 24).

 

Table 24: Changes on rental prices in the last two years from locals‟ perspective.

 

		Frequency	Percent
Valid	Significant increase	40	33.3
	Slight increase	56	46.7
	No change	20	16.7
	I don't know	4	3.3
	Total	120	100.0

 

 

When the respondents who said that there is an increase in the rental price were asked about the reason, 61.2% of them said that the reason is the presence of forced migrants in the city. However, 23.3% of them said that inflation is the reason and 8.7% said that there is a lack of houses in the city, as well as 6.8% said that the increase related to other reasons and not to the presence of forced migrants.

 

 

 

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To sum up, the majority of the respondent from the host community think that the presence of the forced migrants in the city has affected them negatively and made the access to housing for them more expensive. In contrast, their presence has constituted an advantage for the landlords because it has increased the rental prices relatively as well as returned the low quality houses that were neglected and uninhabited to be an income source and activated the real estate sector in the city. Thus, their effects on housing are positive and negative at the same time according to the host community.

 

4.5. The Effects of Forced Migration on the Educational Process

 

 

4.5.1. Current Educational Situation of Forced Migrants in Samsun

 

It can be seen in the Table 25 and Figure 22 that just 16.7% of the respondents are currently registered at universities in Samsun, while 83.3% of them are not registered. However, this percentage can be understood well by looking at the relation between the current educational situation and its distribution on age categories. Therefore, as shown in the Table 27, 53.3% of the respondents in the age category between 18 and 25, which is supposed to include the people in the university age, are currently registered at the university. Accordingly, currently registered students in this category (18-25 years old) constitute 80% of the registered students in Samsun (Table 25, Figure 22).

 

Table 25: Current Educational Situation of Forced Migrants in Samsun

 

Are you currently a student at university in Samsun?

 

		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	yes	20	16.7	16.7	16.7
	no	100	83.3	83.3	100.0
	Total	120	100.0	100.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 22: Current Educational Situation of Forced Migrants in Samsun

 

Many reasons have led to the high level of enrollment of the forced migrants in the age category 18-25 at a university in Samsun. First, some of them have gotten scholarships from the Turkish government or from some non-governmental organizations. For example, I interviewed a student at Onoduz Mayis University; this student holds a scholarship from the Turkish government. The scholarship covers his Turkish language courses, university tuitions, health insurance, accommodation, as well as a monthly stipend (about 600 TL). After he learned the Turkish language, he brought his family to Samsun and rented a home. Currently, he is studying at the university and at the same time he is working at a restaurant and uses his salary and the stipend from the government to meet the needs of his family in Samsun.

 

Second, the free university education for the Syrian students has facilitated their ability to enroll at universities. Third, the ability to transfer from their home university in Syria to the Turkish universities has constituted a chance for them to complete their education in Turkey without losing their previous study years. In additions, some asylum seekers who are expecting to stay in Samsun for a long time, and who can afford studying costs at the university, have enrolled at the university in order to complete their education while they are waiting for the result of their asylum.

 

Yet, 46.7% of the respondents in the same age category as well as many people who have not been covered by this research are not able to register because of their

 

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economic situation or legal status in Samsun (Table 26, Figure 23). For instance, many of the respondents have said that the priority for them now is to find a job to carry the burdens of their families. In addition, the high costs of learning Turkish language have prevented many students from completing their education at universities.

 

Thus, some forced migrant university students have gotten a chance to complete their education in Samsun. However, a high percentage of them have been affected negatively by their displacement and could not get enrolled at universities.

 

Table 26: Current Educational Situation of Forced Migrants in Samsun in the age category (18-25)

 

				Are  you	currently			a
				student  at		university
				in Samsun?
				yes		no			Total
How older you?		18-25	Count	16		14			30
			% within how older you?	53.3%		46.7%			100.0%
			% within are you a student	80.0%		14.0%			25.0%
			at a university in Samsun?
			% of Total	13.3%		11.7%			25.0%

 

Figure 23: Current Educational Situation of Forced Migrants in Samsun in the age category (18-25)

 

 

 

 

 

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4.5.2. Learning Turkish Language

 

Recently, especially this year (2016), there is an unprecedented turnout toward learning Turkish language by the forced migrants in Samsun, either at Turkish and Foreign Languages Research and Application Center (TÖMER) or at the centers of some cultural associations in Samsun.

 

Only 9 Syrian and Iraqi students have learnt Turkish language at TÖMER center at Ondokuz Mayis University in the educational year 2013/2014. While 6 of them were Syrians; only 3 of them were Iraqis (Table 27, Figure 24). This number has increased to 49 students in 2014/2015; 26 of them were Syrians and they were mostly scholarship holders from the Turkish government and 23 were Iraqis and they were mostly studying at their own cost. This number has significantly increased in the 2015/2016 educational year to reach 169 students according to the administration of Turkish and Foreign Languages Research and Application Center (TÖMER) at Ondokuz Mayis University. The vast majority of students are Iraqis (116 students) and they are all studying at their own cost. There are 53 Syrian students, of whom 41 are scholarship holders and 12 are studying at their own cost. As a result, in the last three years, 227 Iraqi and Syrian forced migrants have learned the Turkish language at Ondokuz Mayis University.

 

 

Table 27: Iraqi and Syrian forced migrant students at TÖMER in

 

the last 3 years.

 

Count

		Nationality
		Iraq	Syria	Total
Educational year	2013/2014	3	6	9
	2014/2015	23	26	49
	2015/2016	116	53	169
Total		142	85	227

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 24: Iraqi and Syrian forced migrant students at TÖMER in the last 3 years.

 

 

It should be noticed that while the fee of Turkish courses at TÖMER was 1500 TL in 2013/2015, it increased to 3000 TL in 2014/2015 and to 4000 TL in 2015/2016. However the rate of enrollment has significantly increased and it is expected to increase in the coming educational year.

 

In addition, the other thing that should be noticed is that these figures are from one language center in the city while there is another TÖMER center in the city center where many students are learning Turkish too, as well as many cultural associations centers are offering Turkish language courses also. The number of students who are attending these centers are much higher than the students who are attending the TÖMER centers because it is usually much cheaper than TÖMER. However, the students who are planning to learn the language fluently and obtain a certificate that would allow them to enroll at university and get official jobs must take classes at TÖMER.

 

These figures refer to what Kirişci (2014) meant when he said that the refugees have understood that they are not going to go back to their countries soon and their stay in Turkey is going to protract more, therefore they have started an informal integration process by themselves. One aspect of this integration is the turnout toward learning Turkish language as a first step of the integration process.

 

 

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There are many reasons pushing forced migrants to learn Turkish language in Samsun. First of all is the prolonging of their stay in Samsun for many years. When they came to Samsun at first they thought that they would be accepted for asylum and would be resettled in a short time. However, their stay has prolonged and it may last for many years more because of the long time that the asylum procedures take before resettlement. Therefore, it became necessary for them to learn the language be able to communicate with the locals and create social contacts with them, as well as to be able to find a job in the city. When they arrived they brought an amount of money with them to use during the asylum process. However, this period is expected to be protracted now so therefore they need to find another income source before they finish their savings, and learning the language is very necessary to be able to work in Samsun.

 

 

In addition, some of the forced migrants have decided to settle in Samsun and they are trying to integrate themselves in the host community. Some of those people have even bought houses in the city and they are not planning to move to a third country or to go back to their countries.

 

Furthermore, to be able to enroll at universities in Turkey, learning Turkish language is required. Thus, students who want to complete their education in Turkey should learn the language. Additionally, many asylum seekers have also decided to complete their education at Turkish universities while they are waiting for the resettlement because it takes a long time. Finally, some forced migrants have found their staying in Turkey as a chance to learn a new language and to get knowledge about new cultures.

 

Economically, the ability of these students to afford the costs of learning Turkish at TÖMER shows that their situation is at least medium. According to the fees of Turkish courses at TÖMER in the last 3 years, just the 227 students have paid 8,365,500 TL to the university. In addition, they pay rent, transportation, utility bills, and participate in the local economy by spending money for shopping and entertainment.

 

Additionally, those student and many other students who have learnt the language are ready to start participating in the social and cultural life of the community

 

 

 

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and to impact and be impacted by the local culture. Hence, they can work as a cultural bridges between the two communities after they go back to their countries.

 

4.5.3. Effects of Forced Migration on Educational Process of Children

 

The school education stage, especially the primary education, is the most important educational stage for children. Because of that, in most of countries in the world school education is compulsory and free of charge.

 

In contrast to the university students, according to the questionnaire‟s results only 18.3% of respondents said that all school-aged children in their family are currently enrolled at school. Subsequently, 22.5% said that not all school-aged children in the family are currently enrolled at schools. Also, 8.3% do not have school-age children in their families (Table 28, Figure 25).

 

 

However, as shown in the Table 30, the vast majority of forced migrant school-age children in Samsun do not go to school. About 50.8% of the respondents stated that they have school-age children in their families and that all of those children are currently unregistered at school in Samsun.

 

Table 28: Frequency and percentage of children‟s enrollment at schools in Samsun.

 

Do the children in your family go to school in Samsun?

				Valid	Cumulative
		Frequency	Percent	Percent	Percent
Valid	yes	22	18.3	18.3	18.3
	no	61	50.8	50.8	69.2
	yes, but not all	27	22.5	22.5	91.7
	no children in school age in	10	8.3	8.3	100.0
	my family
	Total	120	100.0	100.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 25: Frequency and percentage of children‟s enrollment at schools in Samsun.

 

The questionnaire covered 120 households and these households included 305 school-age children. According to the results, about 229 children, which constitute 75% of them, are not enrolled at schools, while just 76 children are registered at schools (Table 29). This rate is almost the same of the estimations of UNICEF (2014:19) when it said in its Syria Crisis Monthly humanitarian situation report that 74% of Syrian school-age children out of refugee camps are still out of school in Turkey.

 

Table 29: The number of non- enrolled students in schools in comparison to the total number of children.

 

		How many	How many
		children in your	children are not
		household?	going to school:
N	Valid	120	84
	Missing	0	36
Mean		2.54	2.73
Median		2.00	2.00
Minimum		0	1
Maximum		7	7
Sum		305	229
		116

 

 

In the case of the enrolled students in school, it was noticeable while conducting the interviews that there are some factors have affected their situations and helped their families to send them to school. First of all, most of them have been living in Samsun for at least two years. The first priority for the families when they arrive in Samsun is to be settled and to arrange the issues of housing and their legal situation, as well as to find salary income to meet the family needs especially if they are facing economic difficulties. Therefore, after staying a long time in the city and finishing up the critical issues they can send their children to school. In addition, the legal situation of the forced migrants is very important because if they do not have identity either under temporary or international protection they cannot send their children to school. Thus, the enrolled children have a proper legal situation. As well, these families which could send their children to school often have a few children in school age.

 

 

In addition, some of those students go to school and attend the classes but they are not considered as regular students and they do not get certificates at the end of the educational year. There are two main reasons for that. One of them is because they do not know Turkish language well enough to do the school requirements. In addition, some of those students are not registered at the migration administration office in Samsun or they are staying in Samsun illegally, therefore the schools cannot enroll them officially.

 

Some respondents have said that there are no children in their families. These families maybe have children but they are still so young and have not yet reached school age. All members of some of these families are adults and they do not have children. Also, some of the respondents are living alone in Samsun, such as some students who are studying in Samsun while their families are staying in their countries or somewhere else in Turkey.

 

4.5.4. Obstacles of Access to Schools

 

Many obstacles have prevented the vast majority of children covered by the questionnaire from accessing school. These reasons with their frequencies and percentages are shown in the Table 30 and Figure 26 below.

 

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Table 30: Reasons of not sending children to schools in Samsun

 

If the children in the family don't go to school, what is the main reason?

					Valid	Cumulative
			Frequency	Percent	Percent	Percent
Valid		work to help the family	10	8.3	11.9	11.9
		language barrier	12	10.0	14.3	26.2
		can't afford the costs of	35	29.2	41.7	67.9
		sending them to school
		children refuse to go to	4	3.3	4.8	72.6
		school
		moved recently to
			18	15.0	21.4	94.0
		Samsun
		other	5	4.2	6.0	100.0
		Total	84	70.0	100.0
Missing		System	36	30.0
Total			120	100.0

 

 

Figure 26: Reasons of not sending children to schools in Samsun 4.5.4.1. Working to Help their Families

 

When the respondents who said that all or some of the children in their families do not go to school were asked about the reason of not sending them, 11.9% said that the

 

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reason is that those children are working to help their families in meeting their needs, especially in this time of difficult circumstances. For example, some families have lost their breadwinner during the conflict, or he or she was injured and cannot work. Thus, children have to work and get money for the family. Furthermore, many families consist of large numbers of members which require more income. Therefore, they do not send their children to school; instead, they send them to work or they are currently searching for jobs in Samsun.

 

Moreover, some families do not send the older children to school especially if they finished their secondary education and consider this level enough for them, and at the same time they send their younger children who are still in primary school. For instance, I interviewed a Syrian family with 3 children where two of them go to primary school while the third one is 15 years old and is working with his father and older brother in a bazaar selling vegetables. His mother said, “at least he knows how to read and write and this is enough for him now. The priority is for his younger brother and sister. When we go back to Syria he can go to school again. Now we need to pay the rent and the pills, otherwise they will kick us out of the house.”

 

 

The shown rate (11.9%) does not mean that all of them are working currently; however, some of them are searching for job or worked for a while and left after the time of school was started.

 

4.5.4.2. Language Barrier

 

About 14.29% of the respondents who do not send all or some of their children to school said that the language barrier is the main reason. The children do not know Turkish language. Since the language of education at schools is Turkish and these schools do not present Turkish courses for them, this makes it hard for them to cope with the other classes. Also, a lack of knowing the language makes academic achievement very low. In addition, the children cannot have effective communication neither with their teachers nor with their classmates.

 

While the language skills are necessary for successful integration in the educational process, learning the language at a high level, which is required to be able to

 

 

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cope with classes in Turkish at school, is very costly for many families who cannot afford it.

 

In addition to the unavailability of any free of charge Arabic school in Samsun, the only Arabic school is too expensive for most of the families as well as the used curriculum in this school is the Iraqi curriculum which is different than the Syrian curriculum.

 

This factor is related to other factors. The students who do not go because of the language barrier usually cannot afford the costs of sending their children to learn Turkish language or they moved recently thus they need to teach them the language first then they can go to school.

 

 

4.5.4.3. Children Refuse to Go to School

 

According to the results of the questionnaire, 4.76% of the respondents who do not send the children in their families to schools have stated that the children refuse to go to school for many reasons. First of all, some of them did not get used to going out of their homes alone in Samsun and they refuse to stay away from their families. Second is the feeling of alienation in the class among their Turkish classmates. For example, some of them went to school for a while but felt disappointed because they could not interact with their classmates and did not understand the classes, so they refused to go back to school because they felt that they were not equal with the local students. Additionally, some behaviors from students and teachers in some cases discouraged students from returning to school. For instance, I asked a Syrian child (9 years old) who went to school in his neighborhood for about two months before he refused to continue about the reason that led him to stop attending. He said, “The teacher knew that I do not know Turkish language well, but he was asking me and he and the students were laughing at me every time when I answer wrongly. Then I said to my mother that I will not go again before I learn the language”.

 

4.5.4.4. Moved to Samsun Recently.

 

The second largest reason of not sending children to school in Samsun was their recent arrival in Samsun which constituted about 21.4% of the respondents who do not

 

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send the children in their families to schools. Many forced migrants arrived in Samsun in 2015 (about 45% of the respondents) therefore some of them arrived after the educational year started and did not register their children at schools. However, that does not mean that they will register them for the coming educational year because there are many factors controlling their ability to send them to school.

 

4.5.4.5. Cannot Afford the Costs of Sending Children to School

 

In spite of the fact that the education for forced migrant students at Turkish schools is free of charge, 41.67% of the respondents who do not send the children in their families to schools have said that the reason is their inability to afford the cost of sending them to schools. For example, the costs of buying the required items to prepare for school such as new clothes, pens, and writing instruments, as well as the costs of particular items associated with completing some homework assignments.

 

 

In addition, sometimes schools are located far away from the house of the family therefore the child needs to pay for transportation every day to go and come back which constitutes an additional cost, thus further burdening the families. Moreover, the inability to pay the daily expense that the child needs when he or she go to school is another barrier. For example, a father of 3 children said during the interview, “I want to send them to school. They need to learn and guarantee their future, it is their right, but I cannot afford that. I cannot send them without money. They will see their classmates buying food or other stuff while they do not. They will see them wearing new clothes while they are wearing the same clothes since we came. It is really hard even for us who know everything, so what about those kids? They will not understand why. It is wrong to send them in this situation. I afraid about them. Me and their mother every day we teach them new things, we will do so till we find a solution.”

 

4.5.4.6. Other

 

The current legal situation of the families has affected their accessibility to education services. Many of the families did not register at the migration administration office in Samsun yet for different reasons, therefore schools do not accept them. In addition, some families have been sent by the migration administration to another city

 

 

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but the families are staying in Samsun illegally. Furthermore, sometimes the school accepts the child as a guest, not as a regular student because the child does not know the language therefore the family does not send him or her to school. Another important reason is that some families are afraid to send their child to school especially if the school is far from their home because they are afraid that the child might lose the way or somethıng bad might happen to him or her.

 

The different cultures between the forced migrants and locals also is one of the reasons. For example, in the schools in the Syria and Iraq, especially secondary and high schools, there is a separation based on the gender such that there are girls‟ schools and boys‟ school. However, there is no such separation in Turkey therefore some families refuse to send their children to mixed schools for religious and cultural reasons, especially the girls.

 

 

4.5.5. Does The Forced Migration Has Negative Effects On Educational Level Of Children?

 

According to the questionnaire, 89.4% of the respondents have said that the forced migration affected the educational level of the children in their families negatively from many aspects (Table 31, Figure 27). First of all, the movement from their original countries to Samsun caused a delay in their educational process. As shown in Table 32 and Figure 28 below, 91.2% of the respondents stated that forced migration caused a delay in the educational process of the children in their families for at least one year. The movement may have happened during the educational year so they could neither complete the year in their home countries nor do it in Turkey. In addition, after arrival, the priority was for settling and dealing with housing and job issues rather than thinking about schools. Later, when the families made the decision to send their children to school, they first needed to send them to take language courses which can amount to taking one year before they start school regularly.

 

Moreover, the negative effects happened because the families have reduced the care about their children‟s education for different reasons, such as being busy with other issues, or because they cannot help because the parents do not know the Turkish language. Besides, the difference in the curriculum and the education system has

 

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constituted a big challenge for the forced migrant students to cope with the educational process in Turkey and have reduced their level of academic achievement.

 

Table 31: Do you think that migration from the original country has affected the educational level of students in your family negatively?

 

				Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid		yes		101	84.2	89.4	89.4
		no		12	10.0	10.6	100.0
		Total		113	94.2	100.0
Missing		System		7	5.8
Total				120	100.0

 

Figure 27: Do you think that migration from the original country has affected the educational level of students in your family negatively?

 

At the same time, 10.62% of the respondents said that the forced migration did not affect the children in their families negatively, as well as 8.85% of them have said that it did not cause a delay in their educational process. Those people maybe moved to Turkey during the vacation and by the beginning of the new educational year they sent their children to private Arabic school which teaches the same curriculum. In addition, some of them are Turkmen who came to Samsun from Syria and Iraq and their language

 

 

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is close to the Turkish language that it makes it easy for them to start attending schools immediately.

 

Table 32: The delay in the educational process due to forced migration

 

Have the children in your family delayed in their educational process for one year or more due to the forced migration?

			Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid		Yes	103	85.8	91.2	91.2
		No	10	8.3	8.8	100.0
		Total	113	94.2	100.0
Missing		System	7	5.8
Total			120	100.0

 

 

Figure 28: The delay in the educational process due to forced migration

 

When forced migrants in Samsun were asked about the role of the Turkish government in the educational process, 61.7% of the respondents agreed that ithas provided enough facilities to integrate the forced migrant students in the educational process. However, 28.3% of them disagreed, while 10% said that they do not know (Table 33, Figure 29).

 

 

 

 

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Table 33: The role of the Turkish government in the educational process from the forced migrants‟ perspective.

 

The Turkish government has provided enough facilities to integrate the forced migrant students in the educational process

			Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	I agree		74	61.7	61.7	61.7
	I disagree		34	28.3	28.3	90.0
	I don't know		12	10.0	10.0	100.0
	Total		120	100.0	100.0

 

Figure 29: The role of the Turkish government in the educational process from the forced migrants‟ perspective.

 

Accordingly, the vast majority of the forced migrants think that the government has provided enough facilities to integrate the forced migrant students in the educational process based on the fact that they are allowed to send their children to schools for free. High percentages of the people who do not send their children to school have agreed too and said that they do not send their children not because the government did not allow that. However, many respondents have answered that they are agree; they added that they need more facilitating in the enrollment policies. Thus, they agree that the

 

 

 

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government is providing facilities but in reality they do not agree that these facilities are enough.

 

In the case of the respondents who disagreed, there are many reasons that led them to this answer. First of all, there are many conditions that should be met before being able to go to school. For example, it requires having full legal status to be able to enroll at school, and even after applying for temporary or international protection they still have to wait until they get the identity card to be able to enroll in school.

 

In addition, the government does not offer free Turkish language courses for the children which is important for them to start at school since their families may not have money to pay for these courses.

 

 

Besides, the government does not offer the necessary guidance about the educational process for the forced migrant families, and when they want to ask by themselves, there are no translators at the governmental offices as many interviewees have said.

 

Some respondents do not have children in their families or they did not try yet to enroll their children at schools. Those people have said that they do not know whether the government has provided enough facilities to integrate the forced migrant students in the educational process or not.

 

4.5.7. Future of the Educational Situation

 

The forced migrants in Samsun are in general carrying optimistic expectation about the future of the educational situation of their children in the city. According to the questionnaire, 59.17% of the respondents said that they are expecting that the procedures of enrollment and the education process will improve by the next education year (Table 34, Figure 30).

 

It should be noted that most of the questionnaires and the interviews were done in 2015 from June to September, keeping in mind that 45% of the respondents arrived in Samsun in 2015 and about 48% of them arrived in 2014. This means that the overwhelming majority of them arrived after the educational year had started or just a

 

 

 

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short time before it started which made it difficult for them to send their children to school at that time.

 

Thus, some of the respondents said that the educational situation will improve in the next educational year because they were expecting that their legal situation will be legalized by the next educational year. Therefore, they will have the right to enroll them in school, as well as the possibility of enacting new laws related to the education right of forced migrant students.

 

Moreover, many new arrivals were expecting to find jobs during the coming period which would allow them to afford the costs of sending their children to school. Besides, the children will get used to the city during that time and feel more comfortable attending.

 

 

In addition, some cultural centers had started giving Turkish language courses for free or for low fees which allowed many students to start learning Turkish to be able to enroll in school during the next year.

 

The largest motivation for being optimistic about the future was the news about the opening of an Iraqi private school in Samsun which would be taught in Arabic using the Iraqi curriculum. This school is good for them because they do not need to spend one year learning the Turkish language, considering that it is expensive and that the Turkish curriculum is different than what they learned previously. In addition, this school is licensed by the Iraqi government and the certificates will be certified in Iraq. This school was opened in the 2015/2016 educational year.

 

However, 24.2% of the respondents stated that the situation will not change. Some of them did not expect that their economic situation will improve because of the lack of job opportunities in Samsun. In addition, the Iraqi school was also too expensive for them. In terms of Syrians, the curriculum is different than their curriculum so this did not reflect a significant advantage.

 

In addition, 1.7% of respondents expected that the educational situation will be worse in the coming educational year because of their difficult economic situation, and therefore by the next year their children will lose another year of their education. Also,

 

 

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15% of the respondents said that they cannot expect how the educational situation will be in the next year.

 

Table 34: The expectation of forced migrants about the future of education process

 

In the next educational year, the procedures of enrollment and the education process for forced migrant students :

			Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid		Will improve	71	59.2	59.2	59.2
		Will not	29	24.2	24.2	83.3
		change
		Will be worse	2	1.7	1.7	85.0
		I don't know	18	15.0	15.0	100.0
		Total	120	100.0	100.0

 

 

Figure 30: The expectation of forced migrants about the future of education process

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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4.5.8. Education of Forced Migrants from Locals’ Perspective

 

When the locals in Samsun were asked to share their opinion about allowing forced migrants students to attend classes with local students in the same classes, 85% of the respondents considered it as a good and positive thing. However, 15% of the respondents have said it is a bad thing and they should not be allowed to attend the same classes (Table 35, Figure 31).

 

In the case of the people who considered it as a good thing, their answers were for many reasons. From the humanitarian perspective, they are human beings in need of help and the duty of the host community is to provide them with all their basic needs. In addition, some of them said that they share the same religion and history, and that they have many common denominators that necessitate them to provide them with all their needs as brothers and sisters. The religious factor plays a prominent role in their answers. For example, one of the respondents said “We do not have to share with them just our schools and classes, we should even share our homes and properties as the Emigrants (Muhajirun) and Helpers (Ansar) have done in Medina”.

 

 

Besides, some of them have considered it as a chance for both Turkish students and forced migrant students to share their cultures and to learn about each other.

 

Table 35: Forced migrant students at schools from the locals perspective.

 

What do you think about allowing forced migrant students to attend the same

 

classes with Turkish students?

		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	Good thing	102	85.0	85.0	85.0
	Bad thing	18	15.0	15.0	100.0
	Total	120	100.0	100.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 31: Forced migrant students at schools from the locals‟ perspective

 

In contrast, 15% said it is a bad thing to gather them in the same classes with local students for different reasons (Table 35, Figure 31).

 

First of all, some of the respondents have said that schools in Samsun are already crowded and putting the forced migrant students in the same schools will increase the pressure on these schools and will decrease the quality of education. Second, two respondents said that the presence of them in the same schools may cause security problems in the educational institutions. Third, the same opponents said that it would affect the educational process negatively. It was noticeable that the people who said that the forced migrants should not attend the same schools are generally against accepting the forced migrants in Turkey for political or economic reasons (Table 36).

 

Thus, some people think that the presence of forced migrants in Samsun affects the education process negatively, but in contrast the vast majority consider it as a positive thing.

 

 

 

 

 

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Table 36: The reasons for opposing the presence of forced migrant students and the locals in the same classrooms.

 

If you think it is bad thing, what is the reason?

				Valid	Cumulative
		Frequency	Percent	Percent	Percent
Valid	Schools are already	10	8.3	55.6	55.6
	crowded
	That would cause
	security problems in the	2	1.7	11.1	66.7
	educational institutions
	That would affect the
	educational process	4	3.3	22.2	88.9
	negatively
	Other	2	1.7	11.1	100.0
	Total	18	15.0	100.0
Missing	System	102	85.0
Total		120	100.0

 

 

 

4.5.9. Free Education for Forced Migrants

 

In terms of providing free access to schools for forced migrant students in Samsun, 76.7% of the respondents agreed and they support giving them free education. However, 23.3% said that the education services for them should be paid services (Table 37, Figure 32).

 

The reasons for agreeing to the providing of free access are almost the same as the reasons of agreeing to allow them to attend the schools in Samsun. However some of respondents who considered allowing them to attend Turkish school as a good thing have said that the services should be paid for and not be for free. They said that as locals they have been paying taxes for a long time and they have sacrificed to protect Turkey and it is unfair to share the whole services equally with people who arrived recently and have done nothing for Turkey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Table 37: Attitude of the local population about free education for forced migrant students

 

Forced migrant students have a right to free education in Turkish schools. What do you think?

			Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid		I agree	92	76.7	76.7	76.7
		I disagree	28	23.3	23.3	100.0
		Total	120	100.0	100.0

 

 

Figure 32: Attitude of the local population about free education for forced migrant students.

 

4.6. Impacts of Forced Migration on Health Situation

 

The health issue is one of the biggest challenges that resulted from the influx of forced migrants to Turkey and also one of the most critical issues because it is related to the life of people. The people in Syria and Iraq have fled because of the wars and human rights violations. Thus, their problems related to the health sector started before the displacement. Many people were injured during the war and had disabilities before they moved to Turkey. In addition, the hospitals and health centers where targeted by attacks and most of them in the conflict regions were destroyed. Additionally, there was a

 

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severe shortage of medical equipment and medicine as well as medical staff. Many doctors have left the conflict regions. Therefore, their displacement has been accompanied by many emerging health problems.

 

In Samsun, while I was conducting the interviews as well as when I was volunteering as a translator, it was noticeable that the health situations of a high number of forced migrants is serious and many people are suffering from many types of illnesses. Those people are facing many difficulties in getting their immediate needs met for medical intervention or to get the required medicine. I met so many cases of individuals who were suffering from sicknesses and could not get treatment in the hospitals because they were not registered or they could not get medicine because they did not have enough money to buy it.

 

 

The first and biggest problem related to the health services is the right of access to these services. There are many conditions that should be met to get the right of access to health services in Samsun. The most important one is the legal status. For instance, 28.3% of the respondents do not have temporary or international protection cards and those people do not have a right of access to health services in Samsun. In addition, many other people who have the protection card are staying in Samsun while they should be in another cities; those people also cannot access health services in Samsun. Among the forced migrants in Samsun there is also a lack of knowledge about medical facilities and even about their rights.

 

The people who have gotten the protection card have a right of access to hospitals and to get treatment there; however, the vast majority of them do not have a right to get medicine for free. To do so, the person must have a medical report to prove that he or she is disabled. Thus, the overwhelming majority of them have to pay for the medicine from the pharmacies. Even the people who are disabled but could not get a report to prove that cannot get free medicine. In many cases, patients have to buy the medicine regularly which constitutes a serious financial burden for the family that they cannot afford for a long time. Sometimes the families have to choose whether to give up buying the medicine and expose the life of the patient to the risk or to neglect the family‟s immediate needs which can expose the whole family to many risks.

 

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Language is also one of the biggest problems that face the forced migrants while there are trying to get the medical services and also facing the doctors while trying to assist the patients. There are no translators in the hospitals to help in creating effective communication between the forced migrant patients and the staffs in the hospitals. The patients cannot explain their complaints and cannot make appointments at the hospitals. Some interviewees said that in many cases they made appointments at the wrong medical departments. Some of them said that they went for medical checking but they did not understand what the doctors said. Sometimes when forced migrants go to hospital they bring a translator with them. In general, the translators do not know the language well enough to translate correctly and sufficiently. In addition, they ask the patients to pay large sums of money for a few minutes of low quality translation. Besides, forced migrants cannot find translators at any time they need and they face problems in the case of emergency situations.

 

 

At the same time, the presence of forced migrants in Samsun has caused a kind of pressure on the hospitals and clinics, but this pressure is unnoticeable because there are not as many forced migrants in Samsun compared to the bordering cities with Syria, such as in Kilis.

 

4.6.1. Health Situation of Forced Migrants Before and After the Displacement

 

All previous factors have caused a noticeable reduction in the health situation among forced migrants after the displacement. While 41.67% of the respondents said that they would rate their health situation before displacement as “excellent” and 26.67% of them as “very good”, 36.67% have rated it as an “excellent” and just 15% as “very good” after the displacement. In addition, while 9.17% of the respondents rated it as “bad” and 6.67% as “acceptable”, these rates have increased after the displacement such that 18.33% of them rated their health situation as “bad” and 7.50% as “acceptable” (Table 38, Figure 33).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Table 38: Health situation of forced migrants before and after the displacement

 

In general, would you say your health before you arriving to Samsun was :

		Before displacement		After displacement
		Frequency	Percent	Frequency	Percent
Valid	excellent	50	41.7	44	36.7
	very good	32	26.7	18	15.0
	good	19	15.8	27	22.5
	acceptable	8	6.7	9	7.5
	Bad	11	9.2	22	18.3
	Total	120	100.0	120	100.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

135

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 33: Health situation of forced migrants before and after the displacement

 

As mentioned above, this deterioration in the health situation is due to many factors in three main stages. The first one is related to the general situation of forced migrants before the displacement which can be related to age and other factors. The

 

 

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second one is related to the associated conditions with the movement of displacement such as the war and lack of health services. The third is the situation in Turkey.

 

4.6.2. Access to Health Care

 

When the respondents were asked about their ability to access to health care before and after the displacement, 87.5% said that they were covered by health insurance when they were in their home countries and just 12.5% said that they were not covered by it. However, after the displacement, just 62.5% of the respondents said that they are covered by health insurance or at least that they have a right of access to public health services, while 37.5% of them cannot access health services (Table 39, Figure 34).

 

 

The ability to access health services is varied based on the nationality of the respondents. While 26.4% of Syrian respondents said that they are not covered by health insurance, 46.3% of Iraqi respondents are not covered by health insurance in Samsun.

 

The decrease in the percentage of people who have the right to access to health services after their move to Samsun was expected because the move to Samsun has happened recently and it is still going on therefore every case needs time to be registered and to be listed among the people who are covered by the health care system.

 

In addition, the continuous changing in the law related to the situation of forced migrants has also affected the answers of the respondents. Many respondents have answered based on their previous experience not based on their real rights. For example, many respondents who answered that they are covered by health insurance are in reality not covered by it. However, as was understood from some interviewees, they went to the hospital and received a medical service there therefore they thought that they are covered by health insurance. However, they were treated in the hospital just by a decision of the doctors who decided to help them as exceptional cases.

 

As a result, it can be seen clearly that the displacement has affected their ability to get health care services negatively. Even out of the respondents who said that they are covered by the health care system, 44.3% said that the medicine is not included in the services and they have to pay for it. In addition, 11.3% of them said that they pay for the health insurance and it is not free at all.

 

 

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Table 39: Health insurance for forced migrants before and after the displacement.

 

				Before displacement		After displacement
				Frequency	Percent	Frequency		Percent
	Valid	yes		105	87.5	75	62.5
		no		15	12.5	45	37.5
		Total		120	100.0	120	100.0

 

 

Figure 34: Health insurance for forced migrants before and after the displacement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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4.6.3. Treatment in Samsun

 

According to Table 40, 56% of the respondents who have had an illness or injury, or one of their family members have had an illness or injury during their stay in Samsun, have consulted a doctor/nurse/pharmacist about it, while 44% of them said that they did not get a consultation about the illness or injury (Table 40).

 

Table 40: Health situation in Samsun and medical consulting

 

				Have a doctor / nurse /
				pharmacist been consulted
				about this illness or injury?
				yes	no	Total
Did you or	yes	Count		61	48	109
any of your		% within did you or
family		any of your family		56.0%	44.0%	100.0%
members had		members have any
any illness or		illness or injury?
injury?		% of Total		56.0%	44.0%	100.0%
Total		Count		61	48	109
		% within did you or
		any of your family
				56.0%	44.0%	100.0%
		members have any
		illness or injury?
		% of Total		56.0%	44.0%	100.0%

 

 

4.6.3.1. Reason of Not Getting Medical Consultation

 

Many reasons have influenced the respondents who did not go to the hospital or clinic when they had an illness of injury. First, the pain was slight and not serious so it was possible for the person to afford to not go to a doctor. Second, 8% said that the place of health service was far from their place of stay therefore they could not go (Table 41, Figure 35). Yet, the true underlying reason is the lack of knowledge about the locations of the health centers in the city, as well as the fact that some of them are staying in Samsun while they should be in another city to have the right to access health service yet that city is far from Samsun.

 

 

 

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Third, the language barrier was the main reason for not going to the doctor or hospital according to 50% of respondents who did not get a medical consultation when they may have been in need of one. Most doctors and hospital staff in Samsun only speak Turkish while the vast majority of forced migrants do not know Turkish, hence impeding effective communication between the patients and doctors.

 

Fourth, 28% of respondents stated that the high cost of the available health services is the reason that prevented them from going to the hospital or doctor. For example, one of the interviewees said that once her son was sick and she took him to the hospital but they asked her to pay for the medical examination and she did not have money therefore she left the hospital without an examination or treatment. Another reason for not going to the hospital is the legal status of forced migrants. The people who do not have a protection card, or who have it but not in Samsun, do not go to hospital.

 

 

Table 41: Reason of not getting medical consultation

 

Why did not you get medical consultation?

				Valid	Cumulative
		Frequency	Percent	Percent	Percent
Valid	The illness or injury was	1	.8	2.0	2.0
	not serious
	The place of health service	4	3.3	8.0	10.0
	was far away
	The communication is
	difficult because of the	25	20.8	50.0	60.0
	language
	the available facilities are	14	11.7	28.0	88.0
	expensive
	other	6	5.0	12.0	100.0
	Total	50	41.7	100.0
Missing	System	70	58.3
Total		120	100.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 35: Reason of not getting medical consultation

 

 

4.6.4. Improvements in Healthcare

 

As show in the Table 42 and Figure 36, 47.5% of the respondents agreed that there is an improvement in the measures and level of provided health services to forced migrants compared to the time of their arrival in Samsun. Meanwhile, 33.3% of them disagreed and 19.2% said that they do not know.

 

Many reasons have led 47.5% of respondents to say that there are improvements in health care services. First of all, at the time of their arrival, the status of forced migrants in Turkey was not yet defined and their rights were not yet determined legally, therefore it was difficult for people who were out of the camps to access to health services. However, now they have legal status and determined rights.

 

In addition, many of the respondents were staying in Turkey or in Samsun illegally at the beginning then they registered themselves legally. For example, some asylum seekers had been sent to other cities but were living in Samsun illegally. They then received permission to move legally to Samsun for reasons such as health or having

 

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relatives from the first degree in Samsun. Thus, those people have acquired the right to access health services in Samsun.

 

Moreover, when the forced migrants received the right to access health services, they still had to pay the price of medicine which constituted a big problem for the poor families. Later, the forced migrants who have a protection card became able to take the medicine for free or for symbolic prices. This progress has helped a lot of them get medicine which improved their health situations.

 

Furthermore, many health centers in Samsun have hired Arabic doctors at their centers which allowed many of them to go to these centers and get treatment.

 

 

Last but not least, many forced migrants have learnt Turkish language and become able to communicate with doctors and hospital staff. This enables them to help relatives when they need to go to hospital which facilitates the ability of forced migrants to get treatment.

 

As a result, the measures and level of provided health services to forced migrants in Samsun have improved since they started arriving in Samsun in 2012. This means that the negative effects of forced migration on forced migrants are decreasing with time and in the coming years the situation is going to be better than the current situation because of the government policies as well as the efforts of forced migrants to integrate in the society, even if it is informal integration.

 

However, there are still 33.3% of the respondents who stated that there was not an improvement in the healthcare situation since their arrival. Those people are mostly the poorest people and who have problems with their legal status in Samsun. Consequently, more actions should be taken to evolve an effective healthcare policy that can meet the basic health needs of forced migrants regardless of their legal status.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Table 42: Improvements in healthcare from the forced migrants‟ perspective

 

Compared to the time of arrival, there are improvements in the measures and level of provided health services to forced migrants in Samsun

			Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid		I agree	57	47.5	47.5	47.5
		I disagree	40	33.3	33.3	80.8
		I do not know	23	19.2	19.2	100.0
		Total	120	100.0	100.0

 

 

Figure 36: Improvements in healthcare from the forced migrants‟ perspective

 

 

4.6.5. Effects on Health Services by Locals’ Perspective

 

4.6.5.1. Effects on Access to Health Services

 

When the locals were asked if they agree that the presence of forced migrants has made the access to health services more difficult in Samsun, 85% of them said that they disagree, while 15% of them said that they agree (Table 43, Figure 37).

 

Accordingly, the vast majority of locals think that the presence of forced migrants in Samsun does not affect their ability to access health services negatively. Samsun has many hospitals and health facilities, as well as the population of forced

 

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migrants is not large enough to affect the access to hospitals and health services. However, 15% of the respondents have said that they affected the access of locals to health services and that it became more difficult than before their arrival in Samsun. Those people think that the forced migrants have made the public hospitals more crowded and that they are responsible for the increased wait time to receive medical treatment.

 

Table 43: Access to health services from the locals‟ perspective.

 

 

Due to the existence of forced migrants, the access to health services became more difficult?

			Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid		I agree	18	15.0	15.0	15.0
		I disagree	102	85.0	85.0	100.0
		Total	120	100.0	100.0

 

Figure 37: Access to health services from the locals‟ perspective.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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4.6.5.2. Free access to Health Services

 

According to the questionnaire, 72.5% of the local respondents agreed that the forced migrants should have the right to freely access health services in Samsun, while 27.5% of them said the access to health services should not be for free (Table 44, Figure 38).

 

The reasons that led the majority to agree is that those people have been forced to leave their countries and Turkey should meet their humanitarian needs, in addition to the fact that the economic level of most of them is low so they need the help of the government. Additionally, there are some other reasons such as the religious factor and the historical common denominators with both Syrians and Iraqis.

 

 

However, some reasons have led 27.5% of the respondents to disagree. For instance, some of them said that to access health services they should pay for health insurance as the Turkish citizens do to be at least equal with the locals. Some of them have said that the government should check their economic situation and according to that some of them should pay for health services and the poor people can have a free access to health services.

 

Table 44: Free Access to Health Services

 

Forced migrants in Samsun have a right to freely access to health services. What

 

do you think?

		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent	Cumulative Percent
Valid	I agree	87	72.5	72.5	72.5
	I disagree	33	27.5	27.5	100.0
	Total	120	100.0	100.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 38: Free Access to Health Services.

 

4.7. Employment Situation

 

4.7.1. Effects on employment status of Forced Migrants

 

The job is very important in order to determine the economic level of people and to expect their ability to meet their needs. Forced migration has affected the employment status of the forced migrants significantly.

 

As shown in the Table 45, 65.8% of the respondents were working before they left their countries. In terms of the types of their jobs, 37.5% of them had government jobs, 48.8% were working in the private sector, and 13.8% were self-employed. Besides, the average daily working hours were 8.3 hours per a day. In addition, their average salary was 1693 TL with maximum 7000 TL and minimum 200 TL (Table 45). However, the value of this average in their countries and in their local currencies is different than its value in Turkey. For example, this average is a little bit higher than the minimum wage in Turkey; yet in Syria and Iraq, this average is considered high enough to meet all their basic needs and to guarantee good living conditions for them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Table 45: The employment status of forced migrants before and after the displacement.

 

		Before displacement		Currently
		Frequency	Percent	Frequency	Percent
Valid	yes	79	45	45	37.5
	no	41	75	75	62.5
	Total	120	120	120	100.0

 

 

There is a big difference in the average salary between Syrian and Iraqi respondents. While the average for Iraqi respondents was 2,355 TL, it was just 750 TL for the Syrians. However, 750 TL in Syria is a good salary and enough to allow the family to meet its needs.

 

 

The respondents who said that they were not working in their home countries are the students, housewives, retired people, and those who were still children when they left their countries.

 

In contrast, currently just 37.5% of the respondents have a job in Samsun, while 62.5% of them do not have job. About 75% of them have said that their job is regular and 25% of them said it is an irregular job. In addition, in terms of the types of their jobs, all of them are working in the informal sector without employment contracts. About 88.9% of them are laborers in the private sector and 11.1% of them are doing free businesses. The average monthly salary of the respondents who have a regular job is 866 TL which is lower than the minimum wage in Turkey. The maximum salary is 2500 TL per a month and the minimum wage is 250 TL per a month. In terms of the daily wage of the forced migrants who have irregular jobs, the average is 34 TL with a maximum of 50 TL and a minimum of 20 TL per a day. The average daily working hours are 10.4 hours.

 

 

Furthermore, according to the questionnaire, in addition to the 37.5% of the respondents who said that they have jobs in Samsun, 42.9% of the respondents said that there are one or more people who have jobs in their families.

 

 

 

 

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Based on the results of the questionnaire, a significant percentage of forced migrant respondents lost their jobs in their countries and could not get a job in Samsun, meaning they are now unemployed. In addition, there is a big decrease in the average salary of the working forced migrants compared to their previous salary in their home country, and many are being exploited by the local employers to work for long hours in exchange for a low salary which is not enough to meet even a small part of the workers‟ needs. Moreover, there is a significant change in the type of their jobs. While 37% of them had government jobs in their countries, about 89% of them are laborers in the informal sector in Samsun. They do not have any rights in their jobs such as health insurance, unemployment insurance, and they do not even have the right to complain against their employers if they exploit or defraud them. For example, one of the interviewees said that he worked at a restaurant for one month and that every time he asked the employer to pay him he was saying “I do not have it now”. He then left the job because of that and went to ask for his money, but the employer refused to give him anything and told him “You do not have anything with me and if you want go to the police” but he did not tell the police because he does not have work permission. Another interviewee said that he worked at a café for 14 days at 12 hours per day and the employer gave him just 100 TL for that. The interviewee said that “I worked 14 days and I was working at least 12 hours a day at the café. I did not have money to pay for the transport therefore I was walking every day one hour and a half to go and one hour and a half to come back home and my boss knew that but when I asked him for my salary he gave me just 100 for the 14 days”

 

 

Moreover, there is a significant change in the level of satisfaction with the jobs. According to the questionnaire, while 91.3% of the respondents were satisfied with their jobs before the displacement, just 23.8% of them said that they are satisfied with their jobs in Samsun and 76.2% said that they are not satisfied for different reasons.

 

First of all, 45.5% of the respondents who have jobs in Samsun said that they are not satisfied with their jobs because they feel exploited by their employer. For example, some of them work for longer hours than local employees or work the same but they get less salary than the local employees. Second, 33.3% of them said that the reason is because their salary is low and it is not enough to meet their basic needs. In addition, it

 

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is even much lower than the minimum wage in Turkey. Third, 15.2% said that their jobs are not in their work fields and much different than their jobs in their countries. Fourth, 6.1% said that their jobs are not regular and they work just few days in the week. Those people are also afraid that at any time they may lose their jobs (Table 46, Figure 39).

 

Table 46: Reasons of not being satisfied with job.

			Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent
	Valid	Salary is low	11	9.2	33.3
		Work is not regular	2	1.7	6.1
		Job is not in my field	5	4.2	15.2
		I feel exploited by the employer	15	12.5	45.5
		Total	33	27.5	100.0
	Missing	System	87	72.5
	Total		120	100.0

 

 

Figure 39: Reasons of not being satisfied with job.

 

4.7.1.1. Child Labor

 

Many forced migrant families lost everything when they left their home country and some of them have even lost their breadwinner or he or she became disabled and therefore cannot work anymore. Thus, these bad conditions of the families have led

 

 

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many children who are still less than 18 years old, or who are still school-aged, to look for jobs in Samsun in order to help their families.

 

As shown in the Table 47, 11.9% of the respondents said that there are one or more children working in their families. Those children are still school-aged, but they did not register at school in Samsun and instead they have joined the labor market (Figure 40). Additionally, all of them said that those children were not working before the displacement.

 

Table 47: Forced migrant children labor in Samsun Are there any children working in your family?

 

		Frequency	Percent
Valid	Yes	15	12.5
	No	105	87.5
	Total	120	100.0

 

 

In addition to children who are currently working, many children have left their schools and are currently looking for a job in Samsun to improve the living conditions of their families.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Figure 40: Forced migrant child selling “Simit” in Samsun.

 

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4.7.1.2. Future of Labor Market

 

When the forced migrant respondents were asked about their expectations about the situation of the labor market in Samsun, 44.2% of them said that it will improve in the future because the number of forced migrants who know the Turkish language will increase and the increasing number of forced migrants in Samsun will create many job opportunities for them. In addition, 32.5% of them said that it will stay the same because the labor market in Samsun cannot afford more foreigner workers, according to some respondents (Table 48, Figure 41).

 

 

However, 23.3% of them said that the situation will be worse for many reasons. First, the increasing number of forced migrants in Samsun will decrease their opportunities to get jobs in the city. Second, there is a lack of job opportunities for foreigners in Samsun because it is not like Istanbul, Ankara, and Izmir where there is a big international community and a high number of international companies where can they work, as well as the ability to work in other sectors such as in the tourism sector. Third, the increasing in the number of job seekers in Samsun has led to a decrease in the salaries. Thus, those people think that the labor market situation will be worse in Samsun.

 

Table 48: The future of the labor market situation for forced migrants in Samsun

 

In the future, the situation of the labor market for forced migrants will

		Frequency	Percent	Valid Percent
Valid	improve with time	53	44.2	44.2
	stay the same	39	32.5	32.5
	be worse	28	23.3	23.3
	Total	120	100.0	100.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 41: The future of the labor market situation for forced migrants in Samsun

 

4.7.2. Effects on Employment Situation from Host Community’s Perspective

 

The study has also examined the effects of the presence of forced migrants in Samsun on the employment situation of host community.

 

According to the questionnaire, 56.7% of the local respondents are currently working. This percentage is low because 18.3% of the respondents said that they are retired and 5% of them are housewives, as well as many students who are not working. In terms of the types of their jobs, 32.4% of them work in the governmental sector, 54.9% in the private sector, and 12.7% are self-employed. In addition, the average monthly salary of the local workers is 2101 TL with a minimum of 800 TL and a maximum of 5000 TL.

 

These figures show the big difference between the employment situation of forced migrants and the situation of locals. The average salary of forced migrants is about 1236 TL less than the average salary of local respondents. Besides, the types of their jobs are different.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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4.7.2.1. Difference in Salaries between Forced Migrants and Locals

 

When the local respondents were asked whether there are any forced migrants in their work places or not, 22 respondents said that there are forced migrant workers in their work places, 9 of them said that those forced migrant workers take an equal salary with them, however 13 of them said that the salary of forced migrants is less than their salaries for some reasons.

 

First, some of them said that those forced migrant workers do not have work permits therefore the employers do not give them the same rights as the rights of workers who are legally registered. Second, most of them said that those workers are not skilled and not doing the same work as they do therefore the do not get the same salary. Third, some of them said that the reason is because those workers have started working recently while they started long time ago.

 

 

4.7.2.2. Finding Jobs in Samsun

 

As shown in the Table 49, the majority of the local respondents agreed that finding jobs in Samsun has become harder than before, 30.9% of them have disagreed, and 3.3% have said that they do not know.

 

According to the respondents, there are four main reasons that make it hard to find jobs in Samsun. First of all is the competition for job opportunities among Turkish job seekers. Many Turkish job seekers are looking for jobs in Samsun and every year there are thousands of new graduated students who are competing for the limited job opportunities in the city.

 

Second, the competition between Turkish and forced migrant job seekers. There are thousands of forced migrants in Samsun and a high percentage of them are in the working age which increases the offered manpower in the labor market. In addition, the hard economic situation of forced migrants has led many of them to work for low salaries which led the employers to prefer the forced migrants instead of locals. Moreover, forced migrants work without work permission and the minimum wage is not applied to them which pushes the employers to hire them. Furthermore, the presence of

 

 

 

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many skilled forced migrant workers increases the competition with the skilled local job seekers.

 

Third, some respondents said that Samsun, even before the presence of the forced migrants, suffers from a lack of job opportunities and it does not have huge economic projects to absorb job seekers so therefore there is a noticeable emigration movement from Samsun to the bigger cities such as Istanbul. Fourth, the shortage of skilled workers in Samsun is one of the reasons, according to some respondents.

 

In addition, 20% of the respondents who are working feel threatened by the potential of losing their jobs because of the cheap labor arising from forced migrants. While 62.5% of the respondents who said that they feel threatened of losing their jobs are laborers, no one of the officers said that he or she feels threatened. This is because the majority of forced migrants are looking for jobs in informal sector as laborers and not as officers because they do not have work permissions. Besides, the students constitute 12.5% of the respondents who feel threatened as well as 18.8% of them are the workers in free businesses.

 

 

Table 49: Finding job in Samsun

 

It became hard to find job in Samsun :

		Frequency	Percent
Valid	I agree	80	66.7
	I disagree	36	30.0
	I do not know	4	3.3
	Total	120	100.0

 

4.7.2.3. The Effects on Salaries

 

As shown in the Table 50 and Figure 42, 61.7% of the respondents think that the salaries will decrease because of the cheap labor arising from forced migrants. Those people say that the forced migrant workers are ready to work for even just 20 TL per day which is very low for locals. The presence of cheap labor will push the employer to hire the forced migrants or to decrease the salary for the locals as well.

 

 

 

 

 

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Table 50: Effect of forced migrant workers on average salary

 

Do you think that the salaries will decrease because of the cheap labor market from forced migrants?

			Frequency	Percent
Valid	Yes		74	61.7
	No		46	38.3
	Total		120	100.0

 

 

Figure 42: Effect of forced migrant workers on average salary

 

4.7.2.4. Creating New Job Opportunities

 

According to the questionnaire, 35.9% said that the presence of forced migrants in Samsun is creating new job opportunities in Samsun. There are thousands of forced migrants in Samsun and those people have many needs that should be met which will lead to create new job opportunities, such as in new restaurants that serve their traditional food, new cafés, and many job opportunities in travel and tourism sectors. In addition, their presence creates job opportunities for the Arabic speakers in Samsun because of the need for translation as well as the need of many Turkish teachers to teach them Turkish language.

 

 

 

 

 

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4.7.2.5. Effects on Samsun’s Market

 

The presence of forced migrants in Samsun has definite impacts on the market. 57.5% of the respondents said that they affect the market in Samsun positively. According to those people, the forced migrants bring their money mostly from out of Samsun and spend it in the city and contribute positively in Samsun‟s market. They spend money by shopping, renting and buying houses, buying furniture, staying in hotels and hostels, using transportation, and bringing the foreign currencies to the city.

 

However, 21.7% of them said that they affect the market negatively for some reasons. First, they may have money when they arrive but after a short time they spent their money. Second, a high percentage of them deal with smuggled goods from Syria or Iraq such as cell phones, cigarettes, and canned goods which harm the local market.

 

 

In addition, 13.3% said that it does not affect the market and 7.5% said that they do not know.

 

4.8. Income and Expenditures

 

4.8.1. Personal and Family Income

 

According to the questionnaire, just 71% of the respondents said that they have monthly personal income, and their average monthly income is 1,005 TL with a minimum of 200 TL and a maximum of 4,500 TL. In addition, all of the respondents said that their families have income sources; however, these sources are varying significantly from one family to another. The average monthly income of forced migrant families is 1,383 TL. While the total income of some families does not exceed 100 TL, some families have a monthly income of up to 5,000 TL.

 

In terms of the average personal income which is 1,005 TL, even while it represents the income from the whole sources and not just from the work, it is still lower than the minimum wage in Turkey which is 1,300.99 TL for the single worker who does not have children (Ilk Düzey Muhasebe Rehberi, 2016). According to the questionnaire, just 16% of the people who have a monthly income said that it is higher than the minimum wage, while 84% of them receive an income lower than the minimum wage.

 

 

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In terms of the average monthly income of the families, while the poverty line in Turkey is 4,518 TL for a family that consists of 4 persons, the average income for the forced migrant family is just 1383 TL and the average family size of forced migrants is 6 people. In addition, while the hunger limit in Turkey is 1,387 TL for a family of 4 people, the average income of the families is under the hunger limit. According to the questionnaire, 84% of the respondent families are under the hunger limit.

 

4.8.2. Main Income Source

 

As shown in the Table 51 and Figure 43, 60.8% of the respondents said that job salary is their main income source. Many of them are working in Samsun or have one or more family members who work in Samsun. In addition, 8.3% of the respondents said that they are still receiving their salaries from their home countries.

 

 

Moreover, the main income source for 14.2% of the respondents is the previous savings. Many forced migrants sold some of their properties in their home countries before they came to Turkey and the economic level of many of them was high. Those people have brought their money with them and they are using this money to meet their needs. However, the previous savings are expected to finish. According to the questionnaire, 14.2% of the respondents said that their previous saving are expected to finish in one year, 7.5% in 2 years, and 0.8% in four years.

 

Additionally, the main source of income for 12.5% of the respondents is the remittances. Many forced migrants in Samsun are receiving remittances from their countries or from their relatives in other countries. These remittances allow the forced migrants in Samsun to meet their needs and contribute positively to the local market because they constitute a source of foreign currencies that will be spent in the local market. In addition to the respondents who said that remittances are their main income source, most of the respondents have received remittances in Samsun. About 39% of them receive remittances regularly, 15% receive remittances irregularly, and 10% have received remittances just for one time. In contrast, just 35% of them said that they did not receive remittances at all since they came to Samsun.

 

In terms of the currency of the remittances, 79.7% of the respondents who receive remittances said that the currency of the remittances is USD, 1.3% said that the

 

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currency is Euro, and 19% said that it is TL. The people who receive TL maybe have relatives working in another Turkish city and they send them money in Samsun.

 

Furthermore, 9.2% of the respondents said that the non-governmental assistances are their main income source. Many families have lost their breadwinners because of the conflict and those families depend on the assistances to meet their needs. These assistances can be from the non-governmental organizations or local donors, such as their neighbor or people who decide to take care of some of these families. Besides, 1.7% of the respondents said that the governmental assistances are their main income source.

 

 

In terms of the assistances, 75% of the respondents said that they have received assistance in Samsun. These assistances are usually food, furniture, bills, rents, clothes, and in some cases an amount of money.

 

Table 51: The main income sources

 

What is the main income resource of your household in

 

general?

		Frequency	Percent
Valid	Job salary	73	60.8
	Governmental assistances	2	1.7
	Non-governmental Assistances	11	9.2
	Previous savings	17	14.2
	Remittances	15	12.5
	Other	2	1.7
	Total	120	100.0

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Figure 43: The main income sources.

 

4.8.3. Expenditure

 

According to the questionnaire, the average total expenditure of the forced migrant family in Samsun is 1369 TL per a month with a minimum of 150 TL and a maximum of 4000 TL. This average is even lower than the hunger limit which means the families are facing serious obstacles in meeting their basic needs. About 85% of the respondents said that the total amount of their family‟s income is not enough to meet the needs of living in Samsun.

 

These figures show that the economic level of forced migrants has been impacted significantly by the movement of their displacement. For example, before the displacement, while 10% of the respondents rated their economic level as low, 81.7% of them rated it as medium, and 8.3 % of them rated it as high. In contrast, after the displacement, while 84.2 % of them rated their economic level as low, just 15.8 % of them rated it as medium and no one rated it as high.

 

Therefore, the forced migrants have resorted to several measures in order to offset the deficit in their income. First, many families have sold part or all of their fixed assets to secure their needs in Samsun. 47% of the respondents said that they have sold

 

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fixed assets in their home country. This measure usually makes the return to home country more difficult because they lose their properties in their home countries and try to buy a new house in Samsun and settle there or to pay the money for the smugglers to go to Europe. Second, 21.7% of the families said they have borrowed money during the last 6 months in Samsun.

 

Third, to save money or because they do not have enough to afford meeting all of the basic needs of their families, 51.7% of the respondents said that they took one or more of the family children out of school. The immediate needs of the forced migrants to the money have led 12.5 % of them to send one or more of their children into the labor market instead of school.

 

 

Fourth, 59% of them have neglected medical care. Some of them, especially who do not have the right to access free health centers, do not go to doctors even when they have serious cases because they do not have money, while some of them said that they have the right to access health centers but they cannot buy the medicine or they cannot buy all the required medicines. In addition, many forced migrants who have health problems go to work which leads to deterioration in their health situations.

 

Fifth, 52.5% of the respondents said that they reduced the number of meals and the quality of food because of the lack of income. Some people eat just one or two meals per day and they eat low quality food that does not contain the nutrients needed for the body.

 

Sixth, 54.2% of the respondents said that they are depriving family members from buying clothes that they need. Last but not least, 67.5% of them said that they do not provide their homes with the necessary equipment.

 

4.9. Expected Impacts on Social Life

 

4.9.1. Changing in Clothing Style

 

According to the questionnaire, 20.8% of local respondents said that the presence of forced migrants is expected to affect clothing style of people in Samsun especially the women. For example, many respondents said that there is a clear difference in the clothing style between local and forced migrant women and they started affecting the

 

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clothing style of some local girls and their effects are expected to increase and to be clearer in the future.

 

4.9.2. Changes Related to Food and Drink Sector

 

The Syrian and Iraqi forced migrants in Samsun have different food and drink types and habits than the local community. The increase in their number in Samsun has led to the opening of many restaurants, stores, and bakeries that try to provide them with their own types of food, and many of locals are buying from their stores and eating at their restaurants. Thus, 38.3% of the local respondents said the presence of forced migrants in Samsun is expected to affect the food and drink sector and it is contributing to enriching the local cuisine with many new food types.

 

 

4.9.3. Languages Diversity

 

The mother tongue of the overwhelming majority of the forced migrants in Samsun is Arabic and they do not speak Turkish. This fact has pushed many restaurants and shops, transport and real estate offices, as well as health centers and clinics to use Arabic language in their places as a way of advertising to attract them to use their services. For example, it became familiar in Samsun to see billboards in Arabic in front of the restaurants and real estate offices as well as transport offices that tell the forced migrants about the available services. In addition, these offices and restaurants, as well as the health centers, have started hiring Arabic speakers and writing that on the billboards to attract the forced migrant clients. Moreover, many locals have started learning Arabic language as a big advantage for them when they want to get a job in the city. According to the questionnaire, 68.3% of the local respondents said that the presence of forced migrants will cause language diversity in Samsun.

 

4.9.4. Changes in Behaviors

 

About 17% of the local respondents said that the presence of forced migrants who have a different culture and lifestyle will cause changes in the behaviors in Samsun. According to some respondents, some forced migrants are behaving rudely with the locals which will affect the behaviors of some locals against them.

 

 

 

 

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4.10. Positive Impacts from the Locals’ Perspective

 

According to the local respondents, the presence of forced migrants has many positive effects on the social life and economic situation of the city. First of all, 73.3% of respondents said that the presence of forced migrants in Samsun constituted an opportunity for the locals to get to know cultures of various countries which is positive.

 

Second, 31.7% of the respondents said they cause a development in the tourism sector. They participate in activating the tourism sector from the time of their arrival in Samsun. About 35% of the forced migrant respondents stayed at the hotels or hostels in Samsun before they rented houses in the city. In addition, when they arrive they need to know the city and therefore visit its touristic places and try its special food. For example, many touristic offices in Samsun now offer trips to the touristic places in the province or in the surrounding provinces. Moreover, their presence in Samsun has motivated their relatives and friends to come to the city to visit them and as an opportunity to visit the city. For example, 55.5% of the forced migrant respondents said that they have relatives, friends or acquaintances who have visited them in Samsun since they arrived in the city. Those visitors are contributing in activating the tourism sector in the city and constituting an advantage for all the facilities that are related to the tourism industry such as transportation, restaurant, hotels, and hostels. For example, 31.8 % of the respondents who said that their relatives, friends or acquaintances have visited them in Samsun said that they stayed at hotels and hostels in the city.

 

 

Third, 8.3% of the local respondents said that the presence of forced migrants in Samsun creates new jobs and constitutes sources of earning for the locals. The presence of thousands of forced migrants has created many jobs related to them such as translators, restaurants, transport, and real estate offices.

 

Fourth, 42% of them said that forced migrants in Samsun constitute an important source of foreign currencies. Most of the arrivals bring with them money in foreign currency and use it in meeting their needs in the city. In addition, many of them are receiving remittances and spend these remittances in the local market.

 

 

 

 

 

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Fifth, 10.8% of them said that the forced migrants in Samsun cause a development in the construction sector because of the need of those people for housing and the continual increasing in their number.

 

4.11. Negative Impacts from the Locals’ Perspective

 

In addition to the positive impacts, the presence of forced migrants in Samsun has, according to the locals, many negative impacts.

 

First of all, 76.7% of the local respondents said that the presence of forced migrants in Samsun increases the unemployment rate among them. The forced migrant job seekers are ready to work longer for a lower salary which makes them more preferable for the employers than the local job seekers, in addition to the lack of job opportunities in the city.

 

 

Second, 16.7% of them said that forced migrants cause environmental pollution. According to some respondents, they said they have seen some forced migrants eating outside in the parks or on the beach and leaving the waste materials on the ground.

 

Third, 38% of them said that the presence of forced migrants in Samsun causes a disruption of social peace. Many respondents said that the competition between forced migrants and locals on housing and employment causes a real disruption in the society. In addition, the differences between the cultures can contribute to increasing the problems in the society.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. Conclusion

 

Recently millions of forced migrants who have been forced to leave their home countries as a result of the ongoing wars, sectarian conflicts, and human rights violations have arrived in Turkey and thousands of them have decided to live in Samsun. In this study, I assumed that the movement of displacement and the presence of forced migrants in Samsun have affected the economic features and social situations of the forced migrants as well as the host community members.

 

Thus, the questionnaires, interviews, focus group discussions, and the secondary data sources, such as the figures and data that was published by international and national organizations as well as the newspapers, have been used in the exploring and evaluation processes in order to determine these impacts and their patterns.

 

1.1. Impacts on the Forced Migrants

 

Accordingly, the movement of displacement has had severe negative impacts on the forced migrant people including on their housing situation, educational process, health conditions, employment status, economic level, and the rate of income and expenditures.

 

While the majority of them were living in their own houses before the displacement, 97.7% of them are staying in rented houses in Samsun and they have to pay monthly for staying at these houses. Many of them are staying in low quality houses that were uninhabited before they came to Samsun, and the vast majority of them are using second hand furniture. In addition, the landlords increase the rental prices for the

 

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forced migrant families and ask them to pay a deposit as well as the cost of one month‟s rent to the real estate office as a commission. Moreover, 67.5% of the respondents did not furnish their houses with the necessary equipment. However, there is a form of integration related to the housing issue. For example, many forced migrant families have bought houses in the city and changed their legal status and they have gotten resident permits instead of being asylum seekers.

 

In addition, there is an intention among forced migrants to gather in specific areas in the city to be close to each other which is going to create neighborhoods that the forced migrants constitute the majority of their populations. In these neighborhoods they will have their own restaurants, shops, and cafes.

 

 

In terms of educational situations, although there are many forced migrant students who go to school or university in Samsun, the vast majority of them have been affected negatively from the displacement. The majority of forced migrant families do not send their children to school in Samsun. For example, out of 305 school-aged children covered by the study, just 76 of them are registered at schools. The lack of money, language barrier, and legal status are the main reasons for not sending children to school. In addition, 91.15% of the respondents said that the displacement caused a delay in the educational process of the children in their families for at least one year. Furthermore, many school-aged children go to work instead of to school. However, with time, the number of registered students is increasing and the measures of enrollment are improving. According to the research, 59.17% of the respondents said that they are expecting that the procedures of enrollment and the education process will improve by the next education year. Additionally, the effects vary based on the nationality of the forced migrants because of the differences in their legal and economic situations in Samsun.

 

In addition, the effect of displacement on the health situations of forced migrants is one of the most important issues. Many of the forced migrants do not have the right to access health services in Samsun. Many of them also cannot afford buying the necessary medicine because of their bad economic situations. In addition, many of them have said that their health situation has deteriorated since they came to Samsun. Again, legal and

 

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economic situations play a significant role in the effects on the health situation. However, there are noticeable improvements in the accessibility of health services and free treatment since they arrived in Samsun and it is expected to improve more in the future.

 

In terms of employment status, most of them lost their jobs in their countries. Besides, many of them have gotten job in Samsun; however, the salaries are low, the daily work hours are high, and the types of their jobs have changes. Many employers in Samsun are exploiting the forced migrant workers and sometimes they do not give them their money. For example, the monthly average salary of the forced migrants is 866 TL, while the monthly average salary of the local respondents is 2101 TL. In addition, 12.5% of them said that there are one or more children in their families go to work instead of school. At the same time, forced migrants are trying hard to get involved in the labor market, even in spite of the absence of work permission. In addition, many of them are trying to meet the other forced migrants‟ needs by opening new restaurants, cafes, shops, medical clinics, real estate offices, internet cafes, commercial activities, and tourism offices, which have created many job opportunities for them. In the future, they will keep involving in the labor market and trying to improve their situations. For example, when they finish their savings that they brought with them they will be forced to seek jobs and to work hard in order to meet their needs and establish their own life careers in the city.

 

 

In spite of the low average salary of the forced migrants, it constitutes the main income source of 71% of them. This percentage shows how bad the economic situation is of the majority of the forced migrants in Samsun because their incomes from their jobs are so low. Consequently, to offset the deficit in their income, they have to abandon many of their basic needs such as not sending children to schools, neglecting medical care, reducing the number of their meals and the quality of their food, and not furnishing their homes with the necessary equipment. In contrast, the economic situation of many forced migrants in Samsun is very high. Some of them sold their properties before they came or their situation was high. In addition, some of them are still receiving their salaries from their home countries, especially among the Iraqi governmental employees.

 

 

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Besides, some of them have started their own business in Samsun which provides them with high income.

 

1.2. Impacts on the Host Community

 

The host community has also been affected by the presence of forced migrants in their city. The majority of the respondents from the host community think that the presence of the forced migrants in the city has affected them negatively and made the access to housing for them more expensive. About 63.4% of them said that the rental prices have increased in the last 2 years, and about 61% of them considered the forced migrants as the reason of this increase. However, their presence has affected the landlords, realtors, and secondhand furniture sellers positively. In addition, it is expected to activate the construction and housing sectors in the city as a result of the increasing demand for houses whether for renting of purchasing. Thus, their effects on housing issues are positive and negative at the same time according to the host community.

 

 

In terms of education issues, the vast majority of local respondents have considered the presence of forced migrant students in the same schools and classrooms as a good thing. The said, that it does not affect the educational process of the local students negatively; however, it affects it positively by giving them a chance to communicate with foreign students and learn about their languages and cultures. In addition, they said education is a right for everyone in the society regardless of the gender or nationality. However, the minority of them, about 15%, said that allowing forced migrant students to attend the same schools and classrooms is a bad thing and can affect the educational process negatively. However, the difference in percentages in the two groups and reasons for considering it as a bad thing show that allowing forced migrant students to attend local schools does not have a significant negative effect on the educational process of local students.

 

In addition, just 15% of local respondents said that the presence of forced migrants have made the access to health services more difficult because they made the public hospitals more crowded and now it requires them longer time to receive medical treatment. However, a vast majority of them disagree with the idea that the presence of forced migrants has affected their ability to access health services negatively. In addition

 

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• 27% of them said that the health services for forced migrants should be paid and not be free of charge. Thus, there are no remarkable negative impacts on health services. However, some locals believe that the economic situation of forced migrants is high enough to pay in exchange for the health services.

 

Moreover, 66.7% of local respondents said that getting a job in Samsun has become harder for many reasons and the competition between Turkish and forced migrant job seekers is one of these reasons. Additionally, 20% of the local workers said that they feel threatened of losing their jobs because of the cheap labor arising from forced migrants, as well as they will cause a decrease in the average salary. However, the negative effects emerged mainly because of the absence of the work permission for the forced migrants which allows the employers to hire them with a low salary and without giving them all their legal rights, not from their presence itself.

 

 

In contrast, their presence has many positive impacts on the employment sector. For example, in Samsun it creates new job opportunities according to 39.9% of the respondents. In addition they affect the market in Samsun positively, according to 57.5% of the respondents, because they spend their savings, remittances, and the money that they get from jobs in the local market.

 

Furthermore, there are some effects on the social life such as changes in the clothing styles, in the food and drink sector, and in the language diversity in the society. In general, these effects are positive because they contribute to enriching the social life, but sometimes they have some negative aspects on the social peace.

 

Besides, their presence is affecting the tourism sector positively and constitutes an opportunity for the locals to know the cultures of varies countries. In addition, according to 42% of local respondents, the forced migrants in Samsun constitute an important source of foreign currency that supports the local market. In contrast, some respondents said that they cause environmental pollution, and 38% of them said that they cause disruption of social peace.

 

2. Recommendations

 

In this section there are some recommendations that are presented in the light of the results and interpretations of this research in order to address the current challenges,

 

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improve the difficult situation of forced migrants, mitigate the negative effects of the presence of forced migrants in Samsun, and turn the burdens into profits.

 

As the legal status of forced migrants in Turkey is a complicated issue and hard to be determined for many of them, especially early on after arriving in Samsun which is the most critical period for the forced migrants, the necessary measures should be taken to guarantee their right of access to the basic needs that protect their lives and human dignity, such as health care and education. In addition, there is a need to change some parts of the process of asylum to mitigate the suffering of forced migrants. For example, they come to Turkey and settle in one place and rent a home there, however, after they apply for asylum are being sent to another place which many of them cannot afford. Besides, the forced migrants should be told about their legal rights and that they will not be deported in any case. For example, many of them are afraid of being deported to their countries in the future if they register at the Directorate General of Migration Management.

 

 

In the case of the housing issue, the rent of houses is an important issue that should be addressed by giving assistances to the forced migrants‟ families that can help them to rent a house or at least by forming a committee to help them find houses without being exploited from the landlords and realtors. This committee will exist to protect the forced migrants and the host community at the same time from the increase in rental prices.

 

Forced migrants students need to have access to schools without a lot of barriers that can delay their educational process and cause an illiterate generation that will not be able to rebuild their countries as well as will not contribute positively in the host community. In addition, if those students do not complete their education, they will be more likely to become involved in the criminal groups and illegal activities in the host community. In spite of the fact that they have the right to access schools, there are still many obstacles that prevent most of them from going to school, such as the legal status, language barriers, and their economic situation. Thus, the municipalities can help them by providing more sufficient Turkish language courses and ease the enrollment conditions. Besides, the child labor issue should be confronted through addressing its

 

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causes to be sure that no more children will leave their schools to become involved in the labor market.

 

It is necessary to improve the procedures of access to health care services in the city for all forced migrants, regardless of their legal status and economic situation as a human right for everybody. In addition, it is necessary to provide translation services in the hospitals to help create efficient communication between the patients and doctors.

 

There should be programs for job creation in order to help the forced migrants to be able to meet their needs in the city. Some projects can be established to absorb the labor power of forced migrants and to prevent any negative effects on the local workers. These projects can be established by the municipalities or by some local or forced migrant businessmen in the city. In addition, these projects will protect them from being exploited and will protect the local workers and job seekers who feel threatened of losing their jobs or opportunities of finding jobs.

 

 

The forced migrants should have a chance to start their own business projects in order to impact the local community positively and to be successfully integrated in the host community. Thus, they can be given small loans that can help them start their projects. These loans will allow the host community to receive benefits from the experiences of new arrivals and will mitigate their burdens significantly.

 

Moreover, setting up employment centers to find jobs for job seekers, both locals and forced migrants, based on their abilities is a good method to integrate them in the society and to mitigate the effects on the local job seekers that were created because of the competition with the forced migrants.

 

Another important issue is the dropping in the wages because of the increase in the offered cheap labor. Therefore, a new strategy should be followed to reach an effective determination of wages in the labor market to save the rights of locals and forced migrants, such as giving the forced migrants work permits which allows them to work in the formal sector instead of working in the informal sector.

 

Meetings and activities that gather the members of the host community and forced migrants together should be organized to encourage communication among them

 

 

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and correct the stereotypes that some of them may have about each other and to enhance the cultural connection between the people of these two communities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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EK

 

 

 

 

Ek 1:

 

Ev Sahibi Topluluk İçin Anketler

 

 

Zorunlu göçün ekonomik ve sosyal etkileri

 

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Kişisel Bilgiler

 

1- Yaş		2- Cinsiyet	- Male	- Female
3- Uyruğu		4- Doğum Yeri	-Karaman	- Karaman
				Dışı
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5- Eğitim
Seviyesi
	- Lisans	- Yüksek Lisans	- Doktora	- Okuma Bilmior
6- Medeni	- Evli	- Bekar	- Boşanmış
durumu
	- İşçi	- Ofis Çalışanı	- Emekli	-
7- Meslek				Ev kadını
	- Öğrenci	- Serbest Çalışan		- Çiftçi
	- Diğer‏:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Nüfus ve demografik değişiklikler

 

1- Nekadar süredir Karaman’da yaşıyorsunuz?

- 2 yıldan az

- 2 yıldan fazla

2- Karaman’daki göçmenlerin çoğunun nereden geldiğini düşünüyorsunuz ?

- Suriye

- Irak

- Afganistan

- Iran

3- Sizc bu insanlar

- İş bulmak

- Eğitim

- Güvenlik

Neden Karaman’a geldi?

- Akrabalar/Arkadaşlar

- Sağlık nedenleri

4- Önümüzdeki iki yıl Karaman nüfusunun nasıl değişeceği ?

- Önemli

- Biraz

- Değişmeyecek

- Biraz

Önemli

ölçüde

artacak

azalacak

ölçüde

artacak

azalacak

Konut

1- Karaman’da hangi belediyede

- Karaman

- Akçaşehir

yaşıyorsunuz?

- Sudurağı

-

- Kendi evimde

- Kiralık ev

2- Karamanda nerede yaşıyorsun?

- Ailemin evinde

- Diğer:

3- Eğer kirada oturuyorsanız aylık ne kadar kira ödüyorsunuz ?

4- Önceki 2 yıla göre Karaman’daki ev kiralarının nasıl değiştiğini düşünüyorsunuz? :

- Önemli bir artış

- Hafif artış

- Değişmedi

- Hafif bir düşüş

Önemli bir azalma

5- Önceki 2 yıla göre Karaman’daki konut fiyatlarının nasıl değiştiğini düşünüyorsunuz? :

- Önemli bir artış

- Hafif artış

- Değişmedi

- Hafif bir düşüş

Önemli bir azalma

6- Eğer cevap önemliyse veya hafif bir artışsa, bunun sebebi nedir?

- Enflasyon

- Karamandaki evlerin kıtlığı

- Göçmenler

Diğer :

 

 

 

 

İş ve Çalışma Hayatı

 

 

1- Are you currently working ?	Yes	No
2- If yes, what is the type of your	- State sector			- Private sector				- Self-employed
job?
3- When did you start your job ?	- Less than 2			- more than 2 years ago.
	years ago
4- How much is your monthly
income ?
5- Do you have any migrant workers in your workplace?							_ Yes		- No
6- If yes, do they receive the same	- Yes				- No, less than me
salary as you?
	- No, more than me				- I don‟t know
7- If no, less than you, why ?	- They don‟t have work				- They are unskilled
	permit				workers
	- The started recently				-other

8- It became hard to find job in Samsun :

 

- Strongly I	- I agree	- I disagree		- Strongly disagree		- I don‟t
agree						know
		- The competition for job opportunities between Turkish job
		seekers
		- The competition for job opportunities  between Turkish
		and forced migrant job seekers.
9- If agree, why ?
		- the shortage/absence of job opportunities in Samsun
		- The shortage of skilled workers.
		- Other ‏:
10- Do you feel threatend of losing your job because of the cheap					- Yes		- No
labor market arising from forced migrants?
11- Do you think that the salaries paid to the workers will decrease					- Yes		- No
			181

 

be because of the cheap labor market from forced migrants ?

 

 

 

 

12- The increasing number of forced migrants in Samsun is creating new job opportunities for locals :

 

- Strongly

- Agree

- disagree

- strongly disagree

- I don‟t

agree

know

13- The increasing number of forced migrants in Samsun is affecting Samsun‟s market :

- Negatively

- Positively

- Doesn‟t affect it

- I don‟t know

14- In your opinion, the economic situation of

- Low

- Meduim

- High

the majority of forced migrants in Samsun is?

Education

1- is there any forced migrant attending the same school/university with

- Yes

- No

you or with any of your family member ?

2- what do you think about allowing

- Good thing

- Bad

- Doesn‟t matter

forced migrant students to attend the same

thing

classes with Turkish students ?

- Schools are already crowded

3- If you think it is bad

- That would cause security problems in the educational

thing, why ?

institutions

- That would affect the educational process negatively

- Other.

4- Forced migrant students have a right to free education in Turkish schools. what do you think

?

- Strongly agree

- Agree

- Disagree

- Strongly

disagree

Health Services

 

1- Due to the exictence of forced migrants, the access to health services became more difficult ?

 

 

 

182

 

- Strongly agree		- Agree	- Disagree			- Strongly disagree
2- Forced migrants in Samsun have a right to freely access to health services. what do you
think ?
- Strongly agree		- Agree	- Disagree			- Strongly disagree
Ek sorular
1- Is there any forced migrants living in your neighborhood ?					- Yes		- No
2- Do you have any forced migrant friends ?					-Yes		- No
3- Do you host them in your house as guests ?					Evet		Hayır
4- Due to the presence of forced migrants, what kind of changes in the social life of Samsun
are expected to be seen ?
- changes in the style of clothing				- changes in behaviors
- changes related to eating and drinking sector				- Will cause languages diversity
5- what are the positive effects of forced migrants on Samsun ?
- An opportunity to get to know cultures of			- The development of the tourism sector
various countries
- Creating new jobs and sources of earnings			- improvement of infrastructure
- Important source of foreign currencies			- Development of construction works
- Other :
6- what are the negative effects of forced migrants on Samsun ?
- Increasing unemployment rate				- An increase in the infrastructure
				inadequacies
- Environmental pollution				- Disruption of social peace
- Other :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

183

 

 

 

Appendix 2:

 

Questionnaires for Forced Migrants

 

The economic and social impacts of forced migration

 

استبٌان حول االثار االقتصادٌة واالجتماعٌة والجغرافٌة للهجرة القسرٌة من دول الشرق االوسط إلى سامسون

 

أرجو إعطاء المعلومات المناسبة والالزمة لتعبئة هذا االستبٌان التً ستستخدم ألغراض البحث العلمً الخاص برسالة ماجستٌر و بكل سرٌة وموضوعٌة.

 

- التارٌخ .........../.........../.............

المعلومات الشخصٌة

-1 العمر

-2 الجنس

ذكر

أنثى

-3 الجنسٌة

سوري

عراقً

أخرى :

-4 الحالةاالجتماعٌة

أعزب/عزباء

متزوج/ة

مطلق/ة

أرمل/ة

-5 المستوىالتعلٌمً

دون الثانوٌة العامة

ثانوٌة عامة

دبلوم/كلٌة

بكالورٌوس

ماجستٌر

دكتوراة

غٌر متعلم

-6 المهنةقباللهجرة

-7 المهنة الحالٌة

تكوٌن االسرة

-1 كم شخصا ٌوجد فً اسرتك

ذكر :

أنثى :

؟

-2 كم طفال ) تحت سن 18

عام( فً أسرتك ؟

-3 رب االسرة حالٌا

ذكر

انثى

- رب االسرة قبل

ذكر

أنثى

الهجرة ؟

- هل انت رب االسرة ؟

نعم

ال

- هل رب االسرة مقٌم

نعم

ال

فً بٌت االسرة ؟

- اذا كان الجواب ال، أٌن ٌقٌم ؟

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

184

 

الوصول والسكن فً سامسون

-1 مكان سكنك فً بلدك االصلً ؟

مدٌن

قرٌة

-2 المحافظة التً كنت تتبع

ة

لها ؟

-3 متى وصلت إلى تركٌا أول مرة ؟

-4 متى وصلت إلى سامسون

……../20……

اول مرة ؟

……../20

…

-5 ضمن نطاق أي بلدٌة تسكن فً

Tekkekoy

Canik

Ilk Adim

Atakum

سامسون ؟

- اسباب

امنٌة

- التعلٌم

-6 لماذا تركت بلدك االصلً ؟

- أسباب اقتصادٌة

- التهرب من الخدمة

العسكرٌة

- أخرى :

-7 هل هناك افراد من عائلتك ما

نعم

ال

-8 هل هناك افراد من

نعم

ال

زالوا فً بلدك االصلً ؟

عائلتك هاجروا الى بلد

اخر غٌر تركٌا ؟

- أسباب اقتصادٌة

- وجود االقارب/ معارف/

أصدقاء

-9 لماذا اخترت العٌش فً سامسون

- أدرس او احد افراد االسرة فٌها

- أسباب منٌة واجتماعٌة

؟

- أرسلت من قبل المفوضٌة العلٌا لشؤون الالجئٌن

- أخرى :

-10 هل ٌسمح لك من قبل السلطات

نعم

ال

-11 هل لدٌك منزل ملك

نعم

ال

التركٌة بتغٌٌر مدٌنة اقامتك ؟

فً بلدك االصلً ؟

- فارغ

- مصادر

- مؤجر

- مدمر

-12 إذا كان الجواب نعم، حالٌا هو

جزئٌا

:

- ٌعٌش فٌه افراد من العائلة/االقارب

- أخرى:

- ضٌافة اقارب/ اصدقاء

- بٌت مستأجر

- بٌت ملك

-13 اٌن تعٌش فً سامسون ؟

لالسرة

- فً فندق/نزل

- أخرى

-14 أذا فً بٌت مستاجر ، كم

-15 اذا بٌت ملك، كم ثمن

االجرة شهرٌا ؟

البٌت ؟

- بحثت بنفسً

- بواسطة معارف/ اصدقاء/

- مكتب

-16 كٌف وجدت البٌت ؟

اقارب

عقارات

- أخرى :

- اشترٌته مؤثث

- اثاث مستعمل

- االثاث

- أثاث

مساعدة

جدٌد

185

 

-17 كٌف قمت بتأثٌث البٌت ؟

- مستعمل ومساعدة

- أخرى :

-18 أٌن كنت تقٌم قبل

- فً ضٌافة معارف/اصدقاء/اقارب

- بٌت مستأجر

- فندق/

استئجار/شراء البٌت ؟

اخر

نزل

- نفس المنزل منذ قدومً

- أخرى :

-19 هل انت قادر على العودة الى

نعم

ال

-20 هل ستعود لبلدك فً حال تم حل

نعم

ال

بلد االصلً فً الوقت الحالً ؟

المشاكل التً دفعتك لتركها ؟

- ارٌد البقاء فً سامسون

- ارٌد البقاء فً تركٌا لكن لٌس

-21 إذا كان الجواب ال، :

فً سامسون

- ارٌد االنتقال الى بلد اخر

- لم اقرر بعد

-22 هل اقمت عالقات اجتماعٌة

نعم

ال

-23 هل تتبادل الزٌارات مع

نعم

ال

مع جٌرانك من المجتمع المضٌف

افراد/عائالت من المجتمع

؟

المضٌف ؟

-24 حسب اعتقادك الغالبٌة فً

- ٌتقبل وجودكم

- ال ٌتقبل

- ال اعرف

المجتمع المضٌف ؟

وجودكم

 

 

 

 

 

الوضع القانونً

-1 هل دخلت تركٌا بطرٌقة قانونٌة ؟

نعم

ال

-2 هل حصلت على بطاقة

نعم

ال

الحماٌة المؤقتة من قبل السلطات

التركٌة ؟

- لما اتقدم بطلب

- لٌس لدي الحق ان اتقدم بطلب

-3 إذا كان الجواب ال، لماذا ؟

الحصول علٌها

الحصول علٌها

- تقدمت بطلب لكن لم احصل

- ال ارٌد الحصول علٌها

علٌها بعد

- ال املك جواز سفر

- اخرى :

-4 هل لدٌك اذن اقامة فً تركٌا ؟

نعم

ال

-5 هل لدٌك جواز سفر ؟

نعم

ال

-6 هل أنت مسجل الجئ لدى

نعم

ال

-7 هل انت طالب لجوء ؟

نعم

ال

المفوضٌة العلٌا لشؤون الالجئٌن

التابعة لالمم المتحدة ؟

-8 اذا كان الجواب نعم، هل اجرٌت

نعم

ال

-9 متى موعد المقابلة اذا كان قد

مقابلة من اجل اللجوء ؟

تحدد ؟ )العام(

-10 متى تتوقع ان ٌتم قبولك لالنتقال واالستقرار فً

عام :

بلد ثالث ؟

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

186

 

الوصول الى العمل

-1 هل كان لدٌك عمل فً بلدك االصلً ؟

نعم

ال

-2 كم كان راتبك/دخلك الشهري ؟ )

لٌرة تركٌة (

-3 ما هو نوع العمل ؟

- حكومً

- القطاع الخاص

- كان لدي عملً

الخاص بدي

-4 كم كانت عدد ساعات العمل الٌومً ؟

-5 هل ما زلت تحصل على راتبك

نعم

ال

بعد الهجرة ؟

-6 هل كنت تشعر بالرضى عن عملك فً

ال

-7 هل تستطٌع العودة

نعم

ال

ال

بلدك االصلً ؟

نعم

الى نفس عملك فً حال

اعر

عدك الى بلدك ؟

ف

-8 هل لدٌك اذن عمل فً تركٌا ؟

نعم

ال

-9 هل لدٌك عمل فً سامسون ؟

نعم

ال

-10 ما هو مستواك فً اللغة التركٌة ؟

- ال

- مبتدئ

- جٌد

- جٌد جدا

- ممتاز

اجٌدها ابدا

- ما زلت طالبا فً الجامعة/

- ال أستطٌع العمل ) اسباب

-11 اذا لم ٌكن لدٌك عمل فً ساماسون،

المدرسة

صحٌة (

لماذا ؟

- ما زلت ابحث عن عمل

- ال ارٌد ان اعمل حالٌا

- لٌس لدي اذن

-  أخرى :

عمل

-12 إذا كان لدٌك عمل حالٌا ، ما هو

-13 هل هو عمل منتظم ؟

نعم

ال

عملك؟

-14 موظفك ) صاحب العمل ( :

- تركً

- اجنبً

- لدي عملً الخاص

-15 اذا كان عملك منتظم، كم ٌبلغ

-16 اذا كان عملك غٌر منتظم، كم

راتبك/دخلك الشهري؟

ٌبلغ راتبك الٌومً ؟

-17 كم ٌوما تعمل باالسبوع ؟

-18 كم ساعة تعمل ٌومٌا ؟

-19 هل هناك احد من افراد اسرتك ٌعمل

ال

-20اذا كان الجواب

_____ ذكر

فً سامسون؟

نعم

نعم، كم عددهم؟

______ انثى

-21 هل ٌوجد فً اسرتك اطفال ) اقل من

نعم

ال

_22 اذا كان الجواب نعم، كم طفال ؟

) 18 ٌعملون؟

-23 هل كانوا ٌعملون فً بلدك االصلً ؟

نعم

ال

-24 هل تشعر بالرضى عن عملك ؟

نعم

ال

- الراتب قلٌل

- العمل غٌر

- العمل لٌس فً مجال

-25 إذا كان الجواب ال، لماذا ؟

منتظم

تخصصً

- اشعر باالستغالل من صاحب

- اخرى:

العمل

-26 هل تعتقد ان هناك تمٌٌز فً الحقوق المادٌة واالجتماعٌة بٌن العاملٌن من المهاجرٌن

نعم

ال

واقرانهم من المجتمع المحلً ؟

-27 هل تعتقد ان وضع العاملٌن وسوق

- ٌتحسن مع

- ٌبقى على حاله

- ٌزداد سوءا

العمل بالنسبة للمهجرٌن قسرٌا سوف :

الوقت

 

 

 

 

 

 

187

 

الوصول الى الخدمات التعلٌمٌة

-1 هل انت طالب مدرسة/جامعة فً

نعم

ال

سامسون ؟

-2 هل االطفال فً اسرتك ٌذهبون

-

- ال

- نعم، لكن لٌس

- ال جوجد اطفال فً

للمدرسة ؟

نعم

جمٌهم

اسرتً

-3 اذا كان الجواب ال او نعم لكن لٌسوا

_____ ذكر

______ انثى

جمٌعا، عددهم ؟

- ٌعملون العانة

- بسبب حاجز

- ال نتحمل نفقات

-4 اذا ان الجواب ال، لماذا؟

االسرة

اللغة

الدراسة

) ٌمكن اختٌار اكثر من اجابة (

- االطفال ٌرفضون الذهاب للمدرسة

- انتقلنا حدٌثا الى

فً تركٌا

سامسون

- اخرى :

-5 اذا كان الجواب نعم أٌذهبون

-

-

-6 اذا كان الجواب مدرسة

ال

للمدرسة( المدرسة :

حكومٌة

خاصة

حكومٌة، هل هً مجانٌة ؟

نعم

-7 هل تعتقد أن الهجرة من البلد االصلً اثرت سلبا على المستوى

نعم

ال

التعلٌمً للطالب فً اسرتك ؟

-8 هل فً اسرتك طالب او اكثر تاخر فً دراسته لسنة او اكثر بسبب

نعم

ال

ترككم لبلدكم االصلً ؟

-9 الحكومة التركٌة قدمت من التسهٌالت ما ٌكفً لدمج الطالب من المهجرٌن قسرا فً العملٌة التعلٌمٌنة

:

- اوافق بشدة

- اوافق

ال اوفق

- ال اوافق بشدة

- ال اعرف

-10 خالل السنة الدراسٌة القادمة، تتوقع ان اجراءات االلتحاق ومستوى الطالب :

- سٌتحسن

- لن ٌتغٌر

- سٌصبح اسوأ

- ال اعرف

الوضع الصحً والخدمات الصحٌة

-1 بشكل عام وضعك الصحً قبل

- ممتاز

- جٌد جدا

- جٌد

- مقبول

- سًء

الهجرة كان :

-2 كٌف تقٌم وضعك الصحً بعد

- ممتاز

- جٌد جدا

- جٌد

- مقبول

- سًء

المجًء الً سامسون؟

-3 هل كنت مغطا بالتامٌن الصحً فً

نعم

ال

-4 هل انت مغطا بالتامٌن الصحً

نعم

ال

بلدك ؟

فً تركٌا ؟

-5 اذا كان الجواب نعم، هل هو مجانً

نعم

ال

؟

-6 اذا كان الجواب) لست مغطا بالتامٌن

- لٌس لدي المال الالزم

- ال اعرف كٌفٌة الحصول علٌه

الصحً (، لماذا؟ ) السبب الرئٌسً (

- ال احتاجه حالٌا

اخرى:

-7 هل تمت معالجتك فً واحد من المراكز الطبٌة العامة/ المشافً الحكومٌة بعد

نعم

ال

وصولك الى سامسون ؟

-8 اذا كان الجواب نعم، هل كنت رض عن الخدمة التً حصلت علٌها ؟

نعم

ال

188

 

-9 خالل	الستة شهور الماضٌة، هل عانٌت/أي من افراد اسرتك من أي مرض أو إصابة ؟							نعم	ال
-10 هل تمت استشارة طبٌب/ممرض/صٌدلً حول المرض او االصابة ؟								نعم	ال
-11 إذا كان الجواب ال، لماذا			- المرض/االصابة كان خفٌفا			- مكان الخدمة الصحٌة كان
لم ٌستشر احد حول المرض						بعٌدا
او االصابة ؟ ٌمكن اختٌار			- المرافق الصحٌة المتاحة			- التواصل صعب بسبب اللغة
اكثر من اجابة(			مكلفة
			-نقص المعرفة حول أماكن			- اخرى:
			الخدمات الطبٌة
-12 هناك تحسن على اجراءات ومستوى الخدمات الصحٌة المقدمة للمهاجرٌن قسرا فً
سامسون :
- اوافق		- اوافق	- ال	- ال			- ال اعرف
بشدة			اوافق	اوافق
				بشدة
-13 هل فقدت االسرة أٌا من افرادها بسبب االزمة الدائرة فً بلدك االصلً ؟								نعم	ال

 

 

 

الدخل والنفقات

 

-1 كم ٌبلغ مجموع دخلك الشخصً الشهري ؟ )بما فٌه الدخل من جمٌع المصادر(

 

-2 كم ٌبلغ مجموع الدخل الشهري السرتك ؟ )بما فٌه الدخل من جمٌع المصادر(

 

		- راتب العمل		- المساعدات		- المساعدات غٌر
				الحكومٌة		الحكومٌة
-3 بشكل عام ما هو مصدر الدخل		- المدخرات قبل		- التحوٌالت المصرفٌة من الخارج
الرئٌسً السرتك ؟		الهجرة
		اخرى :
-4 هل تتلقً تحوٌالت		- نعم، بانتظام				- نعم لكن لٌس
مصرفٌة من بلدك االصلً او						بانتظام
من خارج سامسون ؟		- نعم لمرة واحدة				- ال
-5 إذا كان الجواب نعم، بأي عملة استلمت/تستلم التحوٌالت ؟
- الدوالر	- الٌورو		- اللٌرة التركٌة				- اخرى :
االمرٌكً

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

189

 

 

 

المساعدات المستلمة فً سامسون

- 1 هل تلقٌت أي مساعدات

نعم

ال

-2 هل تلقٌت أي مساعدات

نعم

ال

مادٌة منذ وصولك الى

نقدٌة فً سامسون ؟

سامسون ؟

-3 اذا كان الجواب نعم، ما هو مصدر

- منظمات

- منظمات غٌر

- االمم المتحدة

هذه المساعدة ؟

حكومٌة

حكومٌة

) ٌمكن اختٌار اكثر من اجابة (

- متبرعٌن محلٌٌن

- اخرى

-4 وماذا تتضمن المساعدات التً

تتلقاها ؟

النفقات

-1 إذا كان مصدر الدخل الرئٌسً من المدخرات السابقة، ما المدة المتوقعة لنفاد

هذه المدخرات ؟

-2 كم ٌبلغ المجموع الكلً الشهري

-3 هل قمت ببٌع اصول ثابتة من

نعم

ال

لمصروفات االسرة؟ )لٌرة(

اجل تامٌن احتٌاجات االسرة

المعٌشٌة ؟

-4 هل قمت باالستدانة من اجل تلبٌة

نعم

ال

-5 هل المجموع الكلً لمدخوالت

نعم

ال

احتٌاجات االسرة المعٌشٌة خالل ال 6

االسرة كاف لتلبٌة احتٌاجات

شهور الماضٌة ؟

المعٌشة فً سامسون ؟

-6 كٌف تقٌم وضعك المالً قبل

- متدنً

- متوسط

- مرتفع

الهجرة ؟

-7 كٌف تقٌم وضعك المالً حالٌا ؟

- متدنً

- متوسط

- مرتفع

-8 إذا كان الجواب ال، كٌف تسد العجز

- اخراج طفل او اكثر من

- ارسال االطفال تحت سن

؟ ) ٌمكن اختٌار اكثر من إجابة (

المدرسة

العمل الى العمل

- اهمال العناٌة الطبٌة

- تغٌٌر وضع السكن

- الزواج المبكر لإلناث فً

- إرسال فرد/أفراد من االسرة

االسرة

للشحاذة

190

 

- تقلٌل عدد وجبات او نوعٌة	- حرمان افراد االسرة من
الطعام	شراء المالبس

 

• عدم تجهٌز البٌت بالمستلزمات الضرورٌة

 

 

أسئلة إضافٌة

 

-1 هل هناك أي من أقاربك/أصدقائك / معارفك قام بزٌارتك فً سامسون منذ ان قدمت الى المدٌنة؟                      أ( نعم       ب( ال

 

-2إذا كان الجواب نعم، أٌن أقاموا فً سامسون ؟

 

 

 

أ( فً منزلً

 

ب( فً منزل قرٌب/صدٌق/شخص اعرفه اخر

 

 

ج( فندق/نزل

 

د( اخرى : ...........................................................

 

 

-3 ما هً المدة التً تتوقع أن تقٌمها فً سامسون ؟ _________________ سنة/سنوات .

 

-4 هل تعتقد أن أعداد  المجاهرٌن قسرا الوافدٌن إلى سامسون :

 

أ( ٌزداد بكثرة                 ب( ٌزداد                        ج( ثابت                    د( ٌتناقص                            هـ( ٌتناقص بشدة

 

-5 هل تفضل ان ٌكون جٌرانك من :

 

أ( األجانب                                       ب( السكان المحلٌٌن                                         ج( ال فرق

 

)6 هل تفضل االكل فً مطاعم :

 

أ( للمهاجرٌن                                           ب( للمحلٌٌن                                         ج( ال فرق

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

191