Retired worker Numan Al Hashim Abu Ibrahim rent an apartment with those who came from Syria settled in Reyhanlı like himself, and he works in daily jobs.
Numan Al Hashim Abu Ibrahim: I am from Hamdaniya Neighborhood of Aleppo. I am 53 years old. I am a father of 5 children. I am a retired municipal worker. My elder son has been serving his military service in Tartus, Syria. We cannot hear from him for three months.
ORSAM: Could you tell us about your life before the civil war in Syria, what you went through during the civil war and the reasons why you came to Turkey?
Numan Al Hashim Abu Ibrahim: Our house was damaged due to the barrel bombs dropped on our neighborhood during the civil war. Despite the fact that many walls were damaged, we kept on living in the house. The pension of a retired municipal worker is 20 thousand SYP (approximately 400 TL). When the economy collapsed in Syria, all prices increased. While a bag of bread used to cost 25 SYP (8 loaves of bread in a bag), now it is 150 SYP. In the given circumstances, we had to make do with 8 loaves of bread for 2-3 days as an entire family. We lived half-hungry. It was also the same in vegetable prices. We could not eat any fruit. There was a blackout in general. Bottled gas was in black market. When winter was about to come, we decided to set up a fuel-stove but the price of fuel increased from 40 SYP to 200 SYP. Then I tried to convince my wife to come to Turkey along with our children. However, my wife said she would not go anywhere before our son in military service come back. So I came to Turkey by leaving my wife and children behind. My wife has been receiving my retirement pension by proxy, and struggling to survive. I rent an apartment with some Syrians. I work in daily jobs; sometimes I work as a porter, sometimes as an agricultural worker, and sometimes I sell things I brought from Syria. (Second-hand household items, and even clothes brought from Syria are now sold in Hatay. As some people in Syria do not have any source of income anymore, they break into vacant houses and take whatever they find.) The civil war and winter conditions forced most people to steal. There is no production and besides there is a constant devaluation. The number of thieves is going to further increase.
* This interview was made by Feyyat Özyazar in Reyhanlı district of Hatay, on 27 December 2012.
