Attachments
Operational context
There have been some reports in the media that the estimated total number of refugees in the recent influx may be lower than currently estimated by the government. The authorities estimate that over 160,000 have fled Kobani and surroundings in northern Syria to Turkey since 19 Friday September. UNHCR holds this estimated total as plausible.
As of 1 October 2014 over 35,000 refugees have been pre-registered by the authorities, most of whom have been pre-registered in the past days. Pre-registration by the Turkish authorities is ongoing and it will take time before all the newly arrived refugees will be pre-registered. As is to be expected in situations of mass influx there is still a significant gap between the number of registered refugees and the estimated total numbers of arrivals. In the first days large groups of Syrians were fleeing to Turkey through nine informal border points observed by UNHCR as from the first day of the influx. The fleeing Syrians rushed to cross the border and most went to join relatives or host families living in various places in the region, without taking the time to pre-register with the authorities. UNHCR has been contacted by local officials in some of these locations asking for assistance given significant arrivals. There are multiple statements made by refugees that virtually nobody is left in the villages around Kobani and that the city of Kobani is virtually empty. Given the circumstances there was no option but to flee they reported.
Arrivals and Returns
The Turkish authorities have reported that admissions at Yumurtalik are on-going despite clashes on the Syrian close to the border with Turkey. AFAD personnel working at the Yumurtalık crossing border reported that 4,192 Syrians were admitted on 30 September and on 01 October, until noon, another 359 Syrians were admitted. The AFAD Information Note of 1 October states that the total number of admissions is now 163,208. Vehicles belonging to Syrian refugees are now reportedly also being admitted into Turkey. So far, AFAD reports that 368 cars were allowed to park in an area near the border.