ORSAM, in collaboration with the Middle East Institute and the Migration Policy Institute organized a meeting entitled “Syrians on the Edge: The Statu

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As a result of six months of research, The Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies with the support of Konrad Adenauer Stiftung presented their prepared report based upon in-field research titled “The Status of Syrian Refugees in Neighboring Countries: Findings, Outcomes, and Suggestions” on the 20th of May of 2014 in United States, Washington D.C..  This was done in conjunction with Washington’s research center Middle East Institute and was held in the Migration Policy Institute.  Participants in the meeting included American authorities, academicians, researchers, reporters, as well as Turkish authorities and press living in Washington.

The meeting began with the president of AFAD, Dr. Fuat Oktay, giving a speech via a teleconference call.  Dr. Oktay gave information of the general conditions of Syrian refugees in Turkey.  He shared current and detailed information explaining that in comparison to the other countries, the conditions of living conditions within Turkey’s camps are the best. Oktay did not only speak about the Syrians living within the camps but at the same time addressed the relationship with and work done by AFAD for the majority of the Syrians, who live outside of the camps. According to this he emphasized that the, especially in regards to health-care, the Syrians have all the same privileges as the Turkish citizens.  Oktay also emphasized the insufficiency of international help and warned that the Syrians’ needs may disrupt the stability of the entire region.

After the talk by AFAD’s president Dr. Oktay, the president of ORSAM, Saban Kardas, and one of the ORSAM researchers, Oytun Orhan, gave information about the project that they conducted and shared the results with the listeners.  In this context they gave basic datas of the numbers of Syrian refugees recorded in the four neighboring countries, as well as the figures explaining which provinces in Syria the refugees came from and which regions they travelled to in the host countries.  Following that they debated and compared the status of the refugees in each country regarding such things as camp conditions, ethnic-sectarian polarization, immigration to a third country, trends of radicalization, and the relations between the local people and the refugees. The report’s findings which were shared are as follows: Turkey had the best camp conditions, Lebanon and Jordan were under the greatest risk of radicalization, Turkey and Lebanon were the most likely to have refugees immigrate to a third country, and that the relationships between the local people and the refugees are similar between the four countries.

There were two other speakers on the program, one from Arbil and the other from Washington, to explain in greater detail the conditions in Iraq and Lebanon. Peri-Khan Aqrawi-Whitcomb, a researcher from the Middle East Research Institute (MERI) based out of Arbil, shared information stating that the majority of the Syrian refugees in Iraq came from a Kurdish origin. She expressed that the open-border policy of the Kurdish region of Iraq allowed for large waves of refugees, the majority of which went the Dumiz camp in the city of Duhok. She pointed out that the regional government, after receiving approval from the UNHCR, gave temporary residency and work visas to the Syrians. She shared that, in regards to the Syrians returning to their own country, that many of the camps are growing larger and turning into more permanent establishments.

After the remarks of Peri-Khan Aqrawi-Whitcomb, a native of Lebanon working with the American based Rafik Hariri Center for the Middle East Research in conjunction with the Atlantic Council gave a speech about the conditions of refugees in Lebanon.  He spoke about the issue of the Syrian refugee related influences within of the polarized political environment. He pointed out that the polarization was enhanced by the influx of mostly Sunni Muslim immigrants because of the sectarian segregation.  Also he touched on the fact that the Lebanese military was ‘overstretched’ and that Hizbullah existed in the border regions of Lebanon allowing the passing of more immigrants across the border. The Migration Policy Institute’s director of the Refugees, Migration, and Development Program, Kathleen Newland, ended the meeting by moderating a question and answer session.

You can access the PowerPoint presentations used by Oytun Orhan and Peri-Khan Aqrawi-Whitcomb by the links below.

http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/enUploads/Activities/Files/2014610_orhanevent.pdf

http://www.orsam.org.tr/en/enUploads/Activities/Files/2014610_agrawievent.pdf