After fleeing the war and finding refuge in Turkey for the past twelve years, many Syrian families have taken the opposite path, reeling from the shock of the February 6 earthquake, which mourned the two neighboring countries and killed more than 40,689 people in Turkey. , according to the latest report from the Turkish relief agency (Afad), this Sunday, February 19.
At the Cilvegözu border post in the devastated Hatay region, hundreds of men, women and children have been seen in recent days waiting for hours to return to Syria, including the Idlib region in the north. -west. An area held by rebels and jihadists where nearly three million people live in very precarious conditions even before the earthquake.
Six months to return to Turkey
These refugees, who had rebuilt their lives in Turkey, often lost what little they had, their homes having been destroyed by the tragedy. Some also wish to join their loved ones hit by the earthquake on the Syrian side. All benefit from a device recently created by Turkey, which welcomes 3.7 million Syrians on its soil, including 1.74 million in the eleven most destroyed provinces. Since last week, Ankara has authorized refugees placed “under temporary protection” in the affected provinces to return to northwestern Syria for a maximum of six months, without losing their right to return to Turkey.
Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar announced on Sunday 19 February that “10,633 Syrians voluntarily returned home after the earthquake.” He also denied some rumors that Syrians had crossed the border in the other direction to reach Turkey, while anti-Syrian hatred has exploded since the earthquake. “Some schemers claimed that there was an influx of refugees across the borders. It’s completely wrong, he said while visiting disaster-stricken villages in Hatay, together with the Chief of the General Staff, General Yaşar Güler. There are no entries through border posts or borders. On the contrary, the border guards told me that some Syrians who lost their families and homes in Syria returned voluntarily to their country. »
A plan to bring the Syrians home
Recep Tayyip Erdogan has long cherished the wish to see a large proportion of Syrian refugees return to their country, even though the conditions for a voluntary, safe and dignified return of displaced persons and refugees are not yet met, according to the UN .
Under pressure from the opposition and in the face of growing anti-Syrian hostility, the Turkish president, who will seek his succession in May, presented a plan in the spring of 2022 aimed at “preparing for the return of a million” of them on a voluntary basis. This project is part of the “safe areas” created by Turkey along its border, where it has started to build thousands of housing units for these refugees. According to Ankara, half a million of them had already returned to northwestern Syria before the earthquake.