Saturday, July 4, 2015

Waiting in Turkey's "Baking Camp"

UNHCR just released a news report on the conditions at Suruç camp, the largest refugee camp in Turkey. Built by UNICEF and Turkey's Emergency and Disaster Management Presidency (AFAD) in the middle of 2014, Suruç now houses 25,000 mostly Kurdish refugees from Kobane, Syria.

The article describes the overwhelming heat inside the camp, where "the sun offers relentless heat and pitiless light which bounces off soil bleached almost white." Understandably, families tend to stay inside their tents to escape the heat of the day.

Suruç Refugee Camp, Photo: Associated Press
What are the implications for children's mobility in these contexts? What are their lives like when the environment does not allow for freedom of movement? How do families cope with earning livelihoods in these contexts?

No comments: