Syrian refugees in Turkey to exceed 5 million in 2028

Bülent Sarıoğlu - ANKARA

Turkish authorities estimate the number of Syrian refugees in Turkey will exceed 5 million in 2028.

Turkey granted temporary protection status for a total of 3,545,293 Syrians and the number of Syrians living in refugee camps has decreased to 204,288, daily Hürriyet reported on figures from the immigration authority and ombudsman institution.

Istanbul is the province hosting the highest number of Syrians with 564,189 refugees and Şanlıurfa follows with 470,000 Syrians. There are 391,000 in Gaziantep, 222,000 in Adana, 152,000 in Bursa, 130,000 in İzmir and 130,000 in Kilis and 92,000 in Mardin. In these seven provinces, the number of Syrians has exceeded 10 percent of the total population.

In Kilis, the number of Syrians equals 95 percent of the local population. In Hatay, this ratio is 28 percent, 23 percent in Şanlıurfa, 19 percent in Gaziantep, 10 percent in Adana, 11 percent in Mardin and Mersin.

The number of male Syrians in Turkey is 1,922,410 and 1,622,883 are female. Almost half of them, 1,666,524, are children and youth. The number of Syrian babies born in Turkey under four years old who are still stateless (haymatlos) are 535,826. There are 10,483 Syrians above the age of 80, while 1,599 Syrians are above the age of 90.

Under the framework of the migrant deal with the EU, European countries have received 15,046 Syrians from Turkey. Germany has received 5,538, the Netherlands have received 2,884, France has received 2,240 and Finland has received 1,030 Syrians. From 2014-2018, 14,314 Syrian refugees have settled in third countries. Canada has hosted 6,593 Syrians, the United States has received 3,902, and Norway has received 1,926.

The number of illegal refugee crossings has steadily increased since 2013. The number of people caught while trying to illegally cross Turkey was 39,890 in 2013, 58,647 in 2014, 146,485 in 2015, 174,466 in 2016, and 175,752 in 2017. In 2018, 148,637 Syrians have been caught as of August.

In 2018, Afghans are leading in numbers of illegal crossings with 59,592 people in 2018. Some 25,516 Syrians, 22,474 Pakistanis, 10,467 Iraqis, and 2,967 Palestinians followed them.

The number of illegal crossings by Palestinians was nearly 1,000 earlier, but this figure increased in 2018.

The number of applications to Turkey for international protection has also increased in the past few years. Some 65,232 people applied to Turkey for international protection in 2015, 66,167 people in 2016 and 112,415 people in 2017.

Turkey has become a third state among countries receiving international protection applications. Among these applicants, some 68,685 are Iraqis, 31,148 are Afghans, 9,619 are Iranians and 1,082 are Somalians. The number of foreigners given residence permits has increased to 721,735 as of August 2018, with 70,364 Iraqis, 65,348 Syrians, 49,208 Azerbaijanis, 41,025 Turkmens, 30,657 Ozbeks and 30,241 Afghans.