Syrian refugees in Turkey face return to quake-stricken areas
After earthquakes destroyed her home, Raghad fled Antakya in southern Turkey, a city she had called home for the past three years.
The 26-year-old Syrian refugee lived there with her four younger sisters, mother, and four-year-old nephew after her father disappeared during the Syrian civil war. When the quakes hit on February 6, she took it upon herself to deliver her family to safety.
Wearing nothing but her pyjamas, Raghad guided her family through the cold night until she persuaded a bus driver to take 2,000 lira ($106) to drive them to Istanbul, the only place where they have extended family.
After a 17-hour journey on snow-covered, damaged roads, they are now living in accommodation provided by a volunteer in Istanbul, and are being supported by Raghad’s uncle and Syrian fiancé – both of whom live in Istanbul. But due to a government directive issued immediately after the earthquakes, Raghad faces the possibility of being forced to return to Antakya within two months.
“We have nowhere to go,” Raghad told Al Jazeera. “Our home’s been leveled to the ground. If we go back, we’ll be on the streets or in a tent.”
Raghad said everything she and her family owned was lost in a matter of seconds during the quakes. Gone was the inheritance money from her grandfather, her education certificates, passport, and what she considered her most valuable possession – the white dress she planned to wear for her wedding in March.
“I’d only received it the night before,” she said. “I saw it hanging on the closet door as the walls started to crumble around us.”
Temporary policy
According to government estimates, more than 1.7 million Syrian refugees lived in the 10 southern Turkish provinces devastated by this month’s earthquakes.
Like Raghad’s family, most rely on temporary or international protection status, which confines them to the provinces where they are registered residents. Until the earthquakes hit, they could not travel to other provinces without authorisation.
The day after the earthquakes, Turkish authorities issued a directive allowing refugees in the 10 provinces to travel to other cities or provinces, except Istanbul, for up to 90 days if they could secure their own accommodation.