Syrian refugees make up almost 4 percent of Istanbul’s population

Almost 4 percent of Istanbul’s population is made up of Syrian refugees, according to a new report. 

The Marmara Municipalities’ Union’s Migration Policies Center report stated that nearly 540,000 Syrian nationals are currently residing in Istanbul, Turkey’s largest city. 

According to the report, Syrians thus make up 3.67 percent of the population. 

Almost 479,000 of the total 540,000 have temporary protection status, giving them the right to work under a Turkish law issued on Jan. 15 last year.        

The report also stated that Syrians in Istanbul make up 17.4 percent of the total number of Syrians in Turkey. 

Around five million refugees have entered Turkey since April 2011, while the country currently hosts nearly 3.2 million Syrian people, 258,000 of whom live in refugee camps, according to the report. It added that 2.8 million Syrian refugees in Turkey have temporary protection status. 

“The refugee camps, run with the support of a number of [state and private] institutions, have been transformed into modern living spaces with infrastructure, social spaces, healthcare facilities and education services,” the report stated.

The ratio of refugees living in cities in Turkey is 92 percent, while 230,000 Syrian children have been born in Turkey so far, according to the report. 

The final chapter of the report recommends that the authorities widen the service area of metropolitan municipalities in order to better address the problems of refugees. 

The also report stated that measures should be taken to make municipalities “more active in local adaptation.” 

Turkey has spent around $25 billion helping and sheltering refugees since the start of the Syrian civil war in 2011.