Turkey
Turkey is home to more than half of the nearly 6 million displaced Syrians in the region and we are only talking about those registered. Being the first neighboring country, escaping to Turkey is the most natural route for those living north of Syria, but in the refugee camps financed by UNHCR and managed by Afad, the Turkish government agency similar to our civil protection, there are assistance programs that meet the primary needs of just over 300,000 Syrians.
The most difficult situation is that of those who live outside the official camps. In fact, our commitment focuses on spontaneous fields, isolated and far from inhabited centers. The one we have been taking care of for almost ten years, consisting of about 900 families for a total of over 6000 people, is not followed by any NGO or local institution, it is located on land that was previously used as an illegal landfill and of which the remains are still present. The inhabitants, including children, work as laborers for a few Turkish lira a day. The tents they live in are often improvised, bare, cold. There is a lack of basic sanitation, clean water and fuel for the winter.
Many of the children were born in the camp and know nothing else. During their childhood they did not have access to basic educational services or adequate health care. Most are illiterate, malnourished and without any prospect of life. There are over 4000 minors inside the camp, a number that continues to increase. There are also over a hundred orphans abandoned to themselves and therefore even more exposed to the consequences of degradation: from lack of food to violence.
Specifically, we bring food and basic necessities to the camp, from blankets to sleeping bags, from wood to clothes for the winter. We deliver powdered milk to the many newborns on the verge of malnutrition that we constantly monitor. The presence of a doctor on our missions is essential to treat infections due to dirty water, skin or other diseases; ailments that in Italy would be easily treatable and that in a refugee camp instead risk being lethal. We have opened and manage two school tents in twinning with a primary school in Turin, and we provide non-formal education programs coordinated by Italy to support the two teachers on site. We take special care of some fragile families, located between Turkey and Syria, with sick or handicapped children.
Ongoing projects in the spontaneous refugee camp
Siria
On Syrian territory, there are 13.5 million people registered in need. Of these, 6.3 million are internally displaced, i.e. left homeless within Syrian territory. Because of the bloody war, reaching and bringing aid to these populations is difficult for any international organization.
The Syrian civil war began on March 15, 2011 with the Arab Spring, but since 2014 the UN no longer reports the number of registered victims which has obviously increased over the years; his latest estimate is 191,369 people, at least 8,803 of whom are minors. As regards the current situation of the displaced in more detail, 4.5 million people are in areas that are difficult to reach or in cities placed under siege. The Syrian one is in fact defined as the “greatest humanitarian and refugee crisis of our times”, as declared by the UNHCR High Commissioner Filippo Grandi. In Syria there is a lack of basic necessities such as food and clean water. There is a lack of ad hoc structures to accommodate the displaced, who are an ever increasing number. The actual end of the fighting seems very far away, and therefore the situation does not seem to improve.