Erdogan plans to repatriate a million Syrian refugees to north of country

Turkey has announced a new plan to settle one million Syrian refugees in Turkish-occupied enclaves in northern Syria.

Speaking in Syria's northwestern province Idlib during a ceremony to inaugurate the breeze-block housing scheme, Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated: "We didn't just open our doors to save the lives and the honour of the oppressed but we made and, are making, every effort for them to return to their homes."

Some 57,000 homes already house 50,000 families, and another 50,000 are to be built in Idlib. It is ruled by the al-Qaeda founded Haya't Tahrir al-Sham, with which Turkey has reached a modus vivendi.

Once the Idilb project is complete, Turkey plans to construct dwellings in other border areas held by it, including the district of Afrin, border towns and hamlets.

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Turkey intends to provide mosques, schools, hospitals, bakeries, and “all the needs of daily life and self-sufficient economic infrastructure, from agriculture to industry”, Mr Erdogan said. The project is to be co-ordinated with Turkish and international non-governmental organisations and 13 local councils.

Since civil conflict erupted in Syria in 2011, 3.7 million Syrians have sought refuge in Turkey where, in recent years, economic meltdown has stirred a backlash against Mr Erdogan, who initially welcomed Syrians and offered them shelter in camps as well humanitarian aid.

Only 50,000 remain in camps, while the vast majority have settled in cities and towns across the country, particularly in Istanbul and the southern provinces. They have formed separate Arabic-speaking communities, established businesses and, although denied work permits, one million have found low-paying jobs in the black economy.

Polls show this has stirred discontent among 73 per cent of Turks over Mr Erdogan’s refugee policy.

Critical video

This week a nine-minute video entitled "The Silent Occupation" was shown on YouTube depicting a future where Istanbul has been taken over by refugees, and Arabic rather than Turkish is spoken. Within 24 hours, the video had been viewed 2.6 million times.

The Turkish daily Sabah reported, "Civil society associations and aid groups fear refugees will be used as a scapegoat for the country's problems in the 2023 electoral campaign as Erdogan faces an angry populace. Several opposition parties regularly call for the return of Syrian refugees to their home country."

Mr Erdogan initially pledged several years ago to resettle a million Syrians in “a safe zone” on the Syrian side of the border with Turkey, and he claims 500,000 have left voluntarily. The UN puts the figure at 130,000.

Syrians have been reluctant to leave because they mistrust their government and would not be returning to their own homes in locations they left, but to houses in new communities where they would be strangers and would dwell in unstable enclaves held by Ankara’s Syrian allies.

Resistance to return has grown as Syria’s economic crisis has deepened, plunging 90 per cent of the population into poverty.

The European Union agreed to pay Turkey €6 billion in 2021-2023 for humanitarian aid and education for Syrians on condition Turkey halts mass Syrian migration via the Greek islands to Europe. Ankara claims it has spent €32 billion on the refugees and complains over delays in the delivery of funds.