Refugee camps were set up but Sahlabji, who arrived in 2012, steered clear of the tents. Now almost half of Turkey’s 22 government-run camps for Syrians have closed, and although some residents have returned to Syria, most have stayed and moved to permanent housing across the country.
Despite political rhetoric to the contrary, and with the support of international donors, Turkey is quietly paving the way to integrate many of its nearly 4 million Syrians – by far the biggest group of refugees who have spilled over Syria’s borders during the eight-year-old civil war. [...]
Most Syrians in Turkey are still registered as refugees. A few are unregistered, and a small proportion – at least 55,000 – have been granted Turkish citizenship. [...]
There is public resentment over the influx in some quarters. The government, and President Tayyip Erdogan’s stance in the run-up to municipal elections was to play up the prospects of the Syrians’ imminent return to their homeland.
However, a senior Turkish government official told Reuters that, while Ankara would like to see the refugees return to Syria once stability was restored, it realistically accepted that some would want to stay in Turkey.
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