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Syrian refugees in a bind as Turkey rolls up the welcome mat

Syrian refugees in Istanbul face an Oct. 30 deadline to return to the provinces they are registered in. (File photo)
Updated 19 September 2019
Diana Rifai
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Syrian refugees in a bind as Turkey rolls up the welcome mat

  • There are at least 600,000 Syrian refugees registered in Istanbul alone, according to UN
  • Turkey wants Syrian refugees to live in the provinces they are officially registered in
Updated 19 September 2019
Diana Rifai

JEDDAH: For eight years now, Turkey has absorbed waves of refugees representing the full gamut of Syrian society from rebel fighters to civilians. But in recent months, the Syrians, who number 3.6 million, have seen the host government’s attitude toward them sour as it struggles with falling popularity and election setbacks.

In July the Turkish government announced that all Syrians should comply with the Temporary Protection Regulation — which states Syrians should be living in the provinces they were officially registered in, and that they need travel permits to go to other provinces.

On July 22, authorities in Istanbul gave Syrians who were not registered in the province until August 20 to leave. This deadline was subsequently extended until Oct. 30 by the Ministry of Interior. According to the International Organization for Migration, there are at least 600,000 Syrian refugees registered in Istanbul.

These announcements have become a source of uncertainty and anxiety among refugee communities as well as international humanitarian organizations. At the same time, reports from Turkey say Syrians found to be not registered in Istanbul or among the estimated half-million lacking Turkish documents have either been sent to another province or deported back to Syria.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights has said that more than 6,200 Syrians, including people with valid residency cards who had been found guilty of code violations or crimes, were deported from Turkey to Syria’s embattled north, including Idlib, in August.

A Syrian regime offensive against rebels in Idlib has piled insecurity and misery on nearly three million people, many of them displaced by fighting in other parts of the country.

Since March 2011, the conflict in Syria is believed to have claimed over 400,000 lives and displaced millions more. Nearly 13 million people in the country need humanitarian assistance while at least 5.6 million have become refugees in neighboring countries and in Europe.

Turkey has viewed the developments in Idlib and Hama with apprehension, wary of a fresh influx. About 500,000 Syrians have fled their homes and sought refuge in camps or along the border with Turkey.

But Turkey is no longer the sanctuary it once was. Reports from Istanbul tell of Syrians without proper documents having to dodge surprise identity checks by police that could lead to their deportation. Many refugees are said to be adopting extra precautions before stepping out of their homes and trying to imitate the ways of Turks to blend in with the local population.

Selin Unal, a UNHCR spokesperson, explained that when Syrian refugees arrive in Turkey, they are registered by the Turkish authorities and given “temporary protection” allowing them to stay.

“The Temporary Protection Regulation clearly mandates the Directorate General of Migration Management (DGMM) to carry out the registration of individuals under temporary protection,” she told Arab News.

“Syrian nationals, refugees and stateless persons coming from Syria who need international protection are under temporary protection. The comprehensive legal framework in Turkey provides for Syrians under temporary protection to access services in the national system alongside citizens.”

Responding to the outcry over the treatment of vulnerable Syrians, the Turkish government said what was happening in Istanbul was aimed at tackling irregular migration, while unregistered Syrians were being transferred to temporary accommodation centers for registration.

“We are not sending Syrians back. Allegations to the contrary are baseless,” Hami Aksoy, spokesman for the Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Arab News.

INNUMBERS

370,000 - Turkey’s non-Syrian refugee population.

400,000 - Syrian child refugees not in school in Turkey.

“We fully comply with our international obligations. Syrians are under our protection. Of course, we do hope that one day they can return to Syria safely and voluntarily.

“In fact, when you look at the relevant data that is also the wish of Syrians. However, for that to happen, the international community should work more to create necessary conditions for return.

“Today more than 352,000 have voluntarily returned to Syria. It shows that when the right conditions are there, Syrians are willing to return.”

Speaking at conference of the Human Rights Council of the UN in Switzerland earlier this month, Sadik Arslan, Turkey’s representative to the UN, appealed to the EU to take on a bigger share.

Under a March 2016 agreement with the EU, Turkey imposed stronger controls to curb the flow of migrants and refugees to Europe in return for billions of euros in aid. However, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has warned that Turkey will not be able to handle a new wave of refugees.

Erdogan has also pushed the US to create a so-called safe zone on Syrian territory where the Kurds dominate. Turkey views the YPG, the mainly Kurdish backbone of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) battling Daesh in the area, as an extension of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has waged an armed insurgency since 1984 for greater cultural and political rights for Turkey’s Kurds.

Claiming that up to three million Syrian refugees could return to their country to live in the “safe zone,” Erdogan has said Turkey might “open its doors” to allow Syrian refugees to cross into Europe if it does not get support.

The EU had pledged $6.6 billion in aid to improve living conditions for Syrian refugees, but according to Turkey’s semi-official Anadolu Agency, only $2.45 billion had been disbursed as of June 2019.

Whatever the truth, Ankara’s generosity towards Syrian refugees since 2011 is not in dispute. “For any country to receive such a high number of people, in this length of time and in such dramatic circumstances, is an enormous challenge,” Unal told Arab News. “We are very aware of the pressures on the host communities and public services in hosting such an unprecedented number of refugees.”

Unal also acknowledges that Turkey’s public system and national institutions “have expanded their services to enable Syrian refugees to access health, education and social services and to pursue self-reliance through work opportunities made possible through work permit regulations.”

However, Unal pointed out that “when people are forced to flee their homes, they leave with only the basics, and in the country of asylum, their capabilities to earn income are limited."

“Refugees, including Syrians, may express their interest to return to their country of origin and approach Provincial Departments for Migration Management (PDMMs) to this effect," she said.




Syrian refugees in Istanbul face an Oct. 30 deadline to return to the provinces they are registered in. (File photo)

"We work with the PDMMs and are present during voluntary return interviews to monitor that the person is making a free, informed and voluntary decision to go back.

“All refugees have the fundamental human right to return in safety and dignity to their country of origin at a time of their own choosing. As per the Temporary Protection Regulation, temporary protection status of those who voluntarily return to Syria cease. They may accordingly face challenges if they later wish to return to Turkey.

“Reinstatement of temporary protection status, in this case, may only be possible if a positive assessment is delivered by the national authorities following an individual interview conducted with them as regulated in the legislation.”

Aksoy, the Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman, is confident the “safe zone” will facilitate and encourage the return of Syrian refugees.

“We want the safe zone to address our national security concerns and to have a sufficient depth,” he told Arab News. “It should also allow voluntary return of Syrian refugees and internally displaced persons. It should be under our control in close coordination with the US. We also demand the complete removal of PYD/YPG from the zone.”

However, Erdogan’s plan to resettle millions of refugees in northeastern Syria may prove just as controversial as his government’s attempts to deport refugees to Syria’s northwest.

The “safe zone” is seen by the SDF-controlled Autonomous Administration of North and East of Syria (NES) as a Turkish imposition. The SDF wants a zone along the entirety of the border to prevent Turkish military incursions in the future. The depth of the corridor too has been a point of disagreement between Turkey, the US and the NES.

As things stand, 3.6 million Syrian refugees are trapped between the grinding uncertainty of life in Turkey and the danger of deportation to their broken country.

Topics: Pakistan syria turkey

Pakistan sectarian clashes toll reaches 133 since Nov. 21 — provincial government

Updated 7 sec ago
AFP
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Pakistan sectarian clashes toll reaches 133 since Nov. 21 — provincial government

  • A tribal jirga, or council of elders, had been formed to ensure a truce that has remained elusive so far
  • Government says bunkers set up by armed groups to be dismantled and heavy weaponry confiscated
Updated 7 sec ago
AFP

PESHAWAR: The death toll from sectarian clashes in northwest Pakistan has risen to 133, the provincial government said Monday, as tribal elders failed to ensure a truce between the feuding Sunni and Shiite Muslim communities.
Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country, but Kurram in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the border with Afghanistan, has a large Shiite population and the communities have clashed for decades.
At least “133 precious lives have been lost, and 177 people injured” in sporadic clashes since November 21, said a statement issued after a provincial cabinet meeting.
A tribal jirga, or council of elders, had been formed to ensure a truce that had remained elusive so far, it said.
“Bunkers set up by armed groups in Kurram will be dismantled and heavy weaponry ... will be confiscated,” the statement added.
The latest fighting broke out last Thursday when two separate convoys of Shiite Muslims traveling under police escort were ambushed, killing more than 40.
Since then days of fighting with light and heavy weapons have brought the region to a standstill, with major roads closed and mobile phone services cut as the death toll surged.
Anfal Hussain, who owns a pharmacy in Parachinar area, said “2024 has been extremely tough for Kurram” with dozens killed in clashes.
“I’ve been running this pharmacy for 11 years, but during the recent clashes the highway has been practically closed since October. This has caused significant shortages of food supplies and medicines,” Hussain, 36, told AFP.
“Many major illnesses cannot be treated in Parachinar’s hospitals, but they remain helpless due to the road closures,” he added.
A senior security official in the provincial capital Peshawar, speaking on condition of anonymity, on Friday told AFP that officials with the help of tribal elders were “close to achieving a truce,” after two earlier deals had failed to stymie the fighting.
“There are only two villages now where the sporadic firing is still taking place,” he said.
Police have regularly struggled to control violence in Kurram, which was part of the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas until it was merged with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said 79 people had been killed in the region between July and October in sectarian clashes.
The feuding is generally rekindled by disputes over land in the rugged mountainous region, and fueled by underlying tensions between communities from different sects.

Topics: parachinar

Pakistani PM to attend One Water Summit in Riyadh tomorrow

Updated 20 min 29 sec ago
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Pakistani PM to attend One Water Summit in Riyadh tomorrow

  • Summit is a joint initiative of Saudi Arabia, France, Kazakhstan and the World Bank
  • Sharif expected to hold bilateral meetings and engagements on forum’s sidelines
Updated 20 min 29 sec ago
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will leave for Riyadh tomorrow, Tuesday, to attend the One Water Summit from Dec. 3-4, the premier’s office said in a statement on Monday. 
A joint initiative of Saudi Arabia, France, Kazakhstan and the World Bank, the summit aims for high-level political commitments to promote global cooperation and a coherent international approach toward water resource management.
“At the Summit, the Prime Minister will deliver a keynote address at a roundtable focusing on restoration, preservation, and adaptation in the context of fresh water resources and wetlands,” Sharif’s office said.
“He will also highlight steps being taken by Pakistan to promote water conservation, strengthen climate resilience, improve water quality, create livelihoods, and conserve biodiversity. 
“The prime minister will underline the importance of international cooperation to tackle the impact of climate-induced floods, erratic and extreme weather patterns, and heat stress on water resources and ecosystems. He will also call for meaningful international collaboration for sustainable water resource management.”
Sharif is also expected to hold bilateral meetings and engagements on the forum’s sidelines. 
The summit is being held on the margins of the next high-level session of the sixteenth session of COP16 of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). It aims to contribute to ongoing United Nations discussions and processes to enhance global water governance, accelerate action on SDG6 on water and sanitation, and build on the momentum of the UN Water Conference in 2023. 
The forum will also act as an incubator for solutions in preparation for the next UN Water Conference in 2026, and integrate its agenda into the other existing water processes and initiatives such as the World Water Forum, the Dushanbe Conference and the World Water Week.
“The One Water Summit’s ambition is to scale-up projects by stimulating partnerships between states, international organizations, local authorities, development and private banks, businesses, philanthropies, scientific experts, NGOs and civil society, in line with previous One Planet Summits,” the forum’s website said.

Topics: One Water Summit

‘We are artists’: Karachi’s bonsai enthusiasts nurture ancient art of miniature trees

Updated 26 min 43 sec ago
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‘We are artists’: Karachi’s bonsai enthusiasts nurture ancient art of miniature trees

  • Every year, enthusiasts of Japanese art form gather for annual exhibition of Pakistan Bonsai Society
  • Bonsai involves growing trees in small containers to create a realistic miniature of mature forms
Updated 26 min 43 sec ago
BURAQ SHABBIR

KARACHI: Every year, enthusiasts of an ancient Japanese art form gather in the port city of Karachi to show off their works at the annual exhibition of the Pakistan Bonsai Society. 
This year’s edition too saw members of the group putting on display trees that they had grown in containers to create a realistic miniature of mature forms. The members consider themselves artists and the miniature trees, shaped and pruned with precision and care, are not just plants for them but living sculptures rooted in history, tradition and deep personal devotion.
The practice of bonsai, or miniaturizing plants, is thought to have come to Japan from China sometime around the seventh century, when the two countries formally established diplomatic ties. Similar art forms exist in other cultures, including Korea’s bunjae, the Chinese art of penjing, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese Hòn non bộ. 
In the world of bonsai, every twist, turn and trim is an artistic act in which horticulture meets creativity.
“We are artists, using our horticulture knowledge and aesthetic sense, we create these bonsai,” Salman Farooqui, an enthusiast with over a decade of experience, told Arab News on Sunday, as his hands gently guided a tiny tree branch into shape.
Farooqui described bonsai as the only “recognized” living art form that traces its origins back to the ancient Gandhara civilization, which existed from around 500BC to 900AD in what is now northern Pakistan and Afghanistan, long before it became synonymous with Japan.
Buddhist monks in the ancient Taxila and Harappa cities meditated under the shade of the Peepal tree, or Ficus religiosa, with its roots intertwining with the spiritual practices of the time, according to Farooqui. The art form then shifted to Tibet in China, before it finally reached Japan.

Visitors attend the annual exhibition of Pakistan Bonsai Society in Karachi on December 1, 2024. (AN Photo)

“The imagination of Buddha was under the Peepal tree,” Farooqui said. “Japan gave it an official recognition.”
For many Karachiites, the journey into the world of bonsai began with the efforts of a visionary, the late Maj. Gen. Dr. Shaukat Ali Syed, who brought the art form to Pakistan in the 1960s and is often credited with popularizing it in the South Asian country. The Pakistan Bonsai Society itself was established in 1998, the brainchild of Dr. Syed, whose legacy lives on through its annual exhibitions and workshops.
“I saw a live bonsai for the first time at his [Dr. Syed’s] residence in Karachi when I was a child. He had been growing them since the ‘60s,” Khawaja Mohammad Mazhar, an engineer who retired from the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) and took up the cultivation of bonsai in 1980, told Arab News.
“POTTED PLANTING”
Bonsai plants, unlike traditional potted ones, require care, patience, and expertise. They can be grown from seeds, cuttings or nursery stock. Beginning with a thicker trunk to form the base of the tree is often the quicker method but regardless of the starting point, all bonsai are treated as living sculptures that are pruned and shaped meticulously over time.
Various techniques, including painstaking pruning and wiring, are used to give the trees a mature appearance, Mazhar explained. It could take decades to complete one tree, meant to symbolize a scene from nature, and they could then survive for centuries.

Bonsai trees are seen exhibited by the Pakistan Bonsai Society in Karachi on December 1, 2024. (AN Photo)

“It’s the same normal plants, they are only trained,” Mazhar said:
“They have a shallow pot, the roots do not spread much as they are constantly trimmed, and they are kept in the same shallow container, while the shaping is controlled from the top through wiring, through weights.” 
The “clip and grow” method, in which parts of the plant were selectively trimmed to encourage specific growth patterns, is a main technique of the art. 
Local plants are best suited for bonsai cultivation and Karachi’s enthusiasts recommended training native species into sculptural forms that express their unique ecological and cultural climates.
“An imported plant from outside will not survive here as a bonsai,” Manzar said.
Mansoor Alam Khan, another enthusias who found his passion for the art form through the Pakistan Bonsai Society, began cultivating about 10 years ago. The practice allowed him to continue his love for planting trees in Karachi, where space is often limited.
In fact, bonsai, which literally means “potted planting,” became popular as a way of bringing nature inside for many Japanese whose small houses made gardens impossible.
“I was inclined toward planting trees since childhood but there isn’t enough space in Karachi so we couldn’t grow trees,” Khan told Arab News. “When I met these people [at the Pakistan Bonsai Society] and saw that they are growing these trees in their homes so I followed suit too. I have made a really good collection in the last 10 years.”

Visitors attend the annual exhibition of Pakistan Bonsai Society in Karachi on December 1, 2024. (AN Photo)

“Everyone talks about planting trees these days to save the environment. So, if there is not enough space, you can start gardening from your home too,” he added. “For instance, if someone has 50 plants on their rooftop, they can turn them into bonsais.”
Farooqui, who practices bonsai with his wife Ruby Salman, said though the art was in its “introductory conditions,” in Pakistan, more young people were becoming interested.
“Now, as we train more youngsters into this art form, I hope it will become known in this country in the future,” he said.
His wife added that the Internet was helping to boost interest in bonsai among younger people.
“Yes, I feel that when kids do come [to Bonsai Society] and when they come to know the whole story about the bonsai, when we tell them that how it started, they really take an interest in it.”

Topics: Bonsai Tree

Pakistan stock market cruises past 103,000 points on upbeat inflation data

Updated 02 December 2024
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Pakistan stock market cruises past 103,000 points on upbeat inflation data

  • Pakistan’s statistics bureau said on Monday annual consumer inflation in Pakistan had slowed to 4.9% in November
  • Strong economic data and surging foreign exchange reserves played catalyst role in bullish activity, analyst says
Updated 02 December 2024
KASHIF IMRAN

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX) on Monday set a new record as it cruised past 103,000 points during the intraday trading, stock analysts said.
The benchmark KSE-100 index was at 103,036 points at around 250pm on Monday, recording a 1.66 percent gain from Friday’s close of 101,357 points.
The development came as Pakistan’s statistics bureau said annual consumer inflation had slowed to 4.9 percent in November, lower than the government’s forecast, largely due to a high base a year earlier.
Analysts said the stocks showed record bullish activity amid upbeat data on CPI inflation, which was likely to ease the central bank policy.
“Strong economic data and surging foreign exchange reserves [$11,418.5 million in week ending on Nov. 22] played a catalyst role in bullish activity at the PSX,” Ahsan Mehanti, chief executive officer (CEO) of Arif Habib Corporation, told Arab News.
Consumer inflation cooled from 7.2 percent in October, a sharp drop from a multi-decade high of nearly 40 percent in May 2023. The PSX breached the 100,000-mark for the first time on Thursday to close at 100,082 points. The South Asian country slashed interest rates by 250 basis points earlier in November to help revive a sluggish economy amid a big drop in the rate of inflation.
The market rally is also attributable to Pakistan’s new $7 billion loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that has bolstered investor confidence, according to some analysts. The IMF’s disbursement of the first tranche of approximately $1 billion in September, along with fiscal and monetary reforms, improved the sentiment.
But Muhammad Ali Khan, an investment banker and analyst, downplayed the IMF factor and pointed to low interest rates and correction in the market, which had been undervalued for years, as the main reasons behind the bullish trend.
“The stock market had come down to very low valuations, especially in the region, the interest rate is going down and a lot of cash was sitting on the sidelines before this rally,” he told Arab News.
Khan was skeptical of the market performance in the long run, though he expected the market to go up to 110,000 points in the coming days before undergoing another correction.
“This is a speculative market at this point in my view, given that large-scale manufacturing, exports and all other major indicators are crippling,” he said.
“We came off the ventilator. That doesn’t mean we are healthy. IMF saved us, IMF did not solve anything for us.”

Pakistan says 7 of 34 MoUs recently signed with Riyadh actualized into deals worth $560 million

Updated 02 December 2024
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Pakistan says 7 of 34 MoUs recently signed with Riyadh actualized into deals worth $560 million

  • 34 MoUs worth $2.8 billion were signed between Pakistani and Saudi business in October
  • Pakistan has pushed in recent weeks to strengthen trade, investment ties with friendly nations
Updated 02 December 2024
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Seven out of 34 memorandums of understanding (MoUs) signed with Saudi Arabia earlier this year have been actualized into agreements worth $560 million, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s office said on Monday. 
The announcement came after Sharif was briefed on progress made on 34 MoUs worth $2.8 billion signed between Pakistani and Saudi business in October. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have a significant trade relationship, with Pakistan exporting mainly agricultural products and Saudi Arabia exporting mainly petroleum products.
“In a short period of time, 34 investment memorandums of understanding were signed between the two countries, out of which 7 have been given the form of agreements worth $560 million,” Sharif’s office said in a statement after he chaired a meeting to review progress on investment between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia.
“Prime Minister expressed satisfaction over the progress of various ongoing projects between the two countries,” the statement added, as the PM was briefed on discussions held at the second meeting of the Pakistan-Saudi Arabia Joint Task Force in November and informed about cooperation in various sectors. 
Pakistan has pushed in recent months to strengthen trade and investment ties with friendly nations, particularly the Kingdom, which has promised a $5 billion investment package that cash-strapped Pakistan desperately needs to shore up foreign reserves and fight a chronic balance of payment crisis.
Pakistanis are the second-largest expatriate community in the Kingdom, with over 2.5 million living and working in Saudi Arabia, the top source of remittances for the South Asian nation.

Topics: Saudi investment in Pakistan

Latest updates

Pakistan sectarian clashes toll reaches 133 since Nov. 21 — provincial government
Pakistani PM to attend One Water Summit in Riyadh tomorrow
‘We are artists’: Karachi’s bonsai enthusiasts nurture ancient art of miniature trees
Pakistan stock market cruises past 103,000 points on upbeat inflation data
International Criminal Court chief lashes out at US, Russia over threats and accusations

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