Turkey builds ‘first two-story container refugee camp’

KİLİS – Anadolu Agency

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Turkey has prepared two-story container homes for refugees at a camp in southeastern province of Kilis in anticipation of a fresh influx of people fleeing from a nearby Syrian town, a provincial deputy governor has said.

The Kilis Öncüpınar refugee camp, established in 2012, already hosts more than 13,000 people.

“We have 1,000 two-story container houses ready right now and 248 more such houses will be prepared within two weeks,” Mustafa Ünver Büke, Kilis deputy governor and refugee camp director, told Anadolu Agency in an interview on Feb. 17.        

 “The two-story container refugee camp is the first of its kind in the world,” Büke said, adding that the container homes had been designed by Turkish engineers.        

He said the new camp area had the capacity to host 10,000 “guests,” which is how the government classifies Syrians in the country, rather than refugees.

He hoped that the two-story container camp would help Syrian refugees settle in their new homes easily and quickly.        

“We have been hosting Syrians since 2012 and before establishing the second part of the camp, we considered their daily life routines and their relations with each other after much observation,” he said.

He said the new houses would allow Syrians to “live in an environment of peace and security” with their neighbors and relatives.

Seyfettin Cimen, camp coordinator, said the new accommodations had been constructed using fireproof material.        

“The two-story containers also have their own balconies,” Cimen said.

“The new accommodations have been developed using a sustainable and low-cost gravity-fed solar receiver and storage system. Electricity for the new part of the camp will be generated by solar energy,” he added.

Kilis Governor Süleyman Tapsız, who has been serving in Kilis for more than four years, is said to be behind the idea of building the two-story container camp, which will also host a school, three social centers and a market.        

Qatar and Kuwait also provided funds for the project.        

According to official data, more than 35,000 Syrian refugees have been provided shelter at refugee camps near the border in Kilis.