Syrian refugees forcedly evicted after being attacked by locals

GAZİANTEP – Doğan News Agency

The Syrian families will be sent to camps after their forced eviction, officials have said. DHA Photo

A group of 25 Syrian refugees were forcedly evicted from homes where they were sheltering in the southeastern province of Gaziantep on July 1. The refugees were attacked by a crowd of locals after rumors spread that children in the area who were playing on the streets had been threatened by knife-wielding Syrians.

According to claims by locals, a group of Syrians holding döner kebab knives in their hands chased away a group of young children for making too much noise in the city’s Karayılan neighborhood, prompting a witch-hunt against refugees in the area.

Riot police teams were dispatched to the scene after the crowd attacked houses and shops where 25 Syrians were temporarily living.

The Syrian families, including women and children, were eventually forcedly evicted by police from the neighborhood after the locals allegedly claimed that they did not feel secure with the refugees in their presence.

The [Syrian] refugees will be sent to a camp if there are any available places, police officials said.

The number of Syrian refugees taking shelter in urban areas in cities across Turkey has increased over the last year, and tension between refugees and locals in some areas is also beginning to rise.

Last May, locals in Ankara’s central district of Altındağ set fire to a building sheltering Syrian refugees following claims that one man had been beaten by a Syrian national.