ANKARA
USAK report on Syrian shelter seekers --mainly based on the ones who stay in Turkey-- says, if no further precaution was taken then there would be a risk of major riots occurring and threats on Turkey's security.
USAK's fieldwork focuses on camps where Syrian shelter seekers stay, Turkey, regional politics, future of the Syria crisis and the Middle East.
International Strategic Research Organization USAK made public its fieldwork figures and shared with the members of media news at a meeting where USAK researcher Bahadir Dincer underlined that security concerns were escalating in camps where Syrian citizens stay.
Dincer stated their fieldwork was held in four camps based in Turkey where Syrians, who fled the ongoing violence in their country, were staying. He added that 400 Syrian shelter seekers were taken a poll during the research teams were staying in camps.
USAK report drew attentions to registered and unrecorded numbers of Syrian citizens who entered Turkey since the crisis broke out in the country.
Researcher Dincer said, "we have been to Jordan and Lebanon as well to track the move of Syrian citizens and observed that the situation was upsetting as there are no proper camps. Moreover, Syrians who stay in the city centers of Lebanon and Jordan are scared of admitting that they are citizens of Syria. That is because of the current regime's political pressure. More than being scared of the Assad regime, they have also concerns about the current politics of Lebanon and Jordan towards shelter seekers."
The report says since the crisis broke out in Syria, Turkish government opened its doors to more than 500,000 people so far and USAK report oversees that at the end of 2013, the number of Syrian shelter seekers will hit one million people.
"According to the results released by Turkish Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Directorate (AFAD), number of Syrian citizens who stay in sheltering centers in Turkey has reached 192,770 and since April 2011 when the crisis broke out, about 550,000 people have entered Turkey. At the moment, in many Turkish cities there are several camps provided for shelters seekers to accommodate and most of the Syrians arrive with their families", said researcher Sema Karaca.
Coming onto why Syrians fled their country and took shelter in Turkey, it is directly proportional with the escalating levels of violence in Syria.
Researchers of USAK said more than 100 families enter Turkey just via Turkey's southeastern province of Kilis and considering, approximately each family is formed by six people, there are worrying results come out.
USAK's survey brought out that families who had no other choices but to flee their country and come in Turkey are because of financial issues, personal security concerns, political and communal pressures and lack of accessibility to basic needs.
Dincer touched on unrecorded number of Syrians in Turkey and said, "it is known that there are 70-80 people live all together in one place. Some of them start begging, some live in streets and parks."
He added that immediate financial and psychological assistance had to be provided for Syrian shelter seekers in Turkey, otherwise as long as the crisis process extends, an occurrence of a political crisis was a matter of time.
USAK report underlined, "possible crises which may occur in the camps of city centers await like a powder barrel and within the scope of manipulations and propaganda, there is a risk of bringing major riots."
Survey which was taken in four Turkish camps between January 28 and February 2, and February 19 and 22 state that 84.5 percent of Syrian citizens do not presume that there would be wars of religion after Assad in Syria. And moreover, 74.3 percent of Syrians state that they would live happily with "other minorities". Lastly, 78.9 percent of Syrians believe that their country will not go through a division after the crisis.
