GAZIANTEP, Turkey, April 25 (UNHCR) – Refugee children from Syria have few reasons to smile. The two-year-long conflict in their homeland has brought great suffering to them and their parents. But on Wednesday in Turkey, one group of Syrian refugee children received something to bring a small bit of sunshine into their lives – a consignment of 60 boxes of toys sent to them by children in France.

The toys were collected by the Quai Branly Museum in Paris with the help of the UN refugee agency and the Fédération des Associations d'Anciens du Scoutisme (FAAS).

Highlights

• The Government of Turkey announced that the total number of Syrians who sought protection in Turkey is estimated to be about 400,000. As of 12 March 2013, 188,387 of them are registered and accommodated in 17 camps established in 8 provinces. Some 200,000 are estimated to be living in urban areas mainly in Gaziantep, Kilis, Hatay, Sanliurfa provinces.

By Jenna Johnson, Updated: Thursday, February 14, 6:45 AM

ANTAKYA, TURKEY — At a new school for teenage Syrian refugees, in a still-under-construction apartment building near a Turkish hospital, psychology has been added to the standard Syrian curriculum. Turkish is now required, too. But the course about the legacy of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been dropped.

SUMMARY

Syrian refugees in Turkey report that their basic needs are generally well met in the government controlled refugee camps. STL had previously observed that protection issues did not seem to be a consideration of Syrian Refugees in Turkey, January-February Situation Report2 camp managers and the authorities alike. Recent information suggests that authorities have started putting more focus on protection issues in the camps.

Highlights

• According to the official figures reported by the Government Agency AFA on 06 Feb. 2013, the total number of Syrians registered in 15 camps in 7 provinces is 177,181 including 218 Syrians who are under medical treatment in hospitals. However unofficial numbers is estimated to be higher, as registration of spontaneous arrivals to the camps is on going process.

SUMMARY

Syrian refugees in Turkey report that their basic needs are generally well met in the government controlled camps. This being the case, STL had previously observed that protection issues do not seem to be a consideration of camp managers and the authorities alike (STL, 30 November 2012). However, recent reports suggest that the Turkish authorities have put stronger attention on protection issues such as psycho-social support for the traumatized Syrian population in the camps (IFRC, 29 December 2012).

Syrians who fled conflict at home and took shelter in neighbouring countries such as Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, have been living away from their homeland for more than 18 months. It is estimated that 500,000 people have left Syria since the outbreak of violence in 2011, and while they wait for the opportunity to return, the Turkish Red Crescent Society is providing support and shelter, especially as the winter begins to deepen.

12/18/2012 07:36 GMT

by Prashant Rao

KILIS, Turkey, Dec 18, 2012 (AFP) - In a Turkish town across the border from Syria, a few dozen exiled schoolteachers have established a makeshift school for children displaced by their native country's brutal civil war.

The school, on the ground floor of a three-storey building in southwest Kilis, lacks all but the the most basic of supplies while all the teachers work for no pay in cramped classrooms where five children often squeeze into desks made for three.

ANKARA, 16 November 2012 (IRIN) - Turkey has treated Syrians fleeing to its territory better than most countries in the world ever would or could. Refugees receive three hot meals a day and live in modern facilities, in much better conditions, they say, than their counterparts in Lebanon and Jordan.

For months, Turkey insisted to the outside world that it could handle the refugee influx on its own. Initially, it was not alone in thinking the Syrian crisis would be a short-lived event, with refugees staying a few weeks, or months at the most, before returning home.