REPORT: Migrants in Turkey pray for return to Syria, work farms to survive

Ahmad Mustafa fled northern Syria to Turkey four months ago, badly injuring his hand along the way.

But while the free healthcare he gets as a refugee is helping him heal, Mustafa and many of the nearly 3 million Syrian migrants who have fled to Turkey are gradually losing hope for their war-ravaged homeland.

Mustafa is part of what Ankara says is the world's largest refugee population, many of whom barely eke out a living in places like Reyhanli, a dusty border town in the southern Hatay province that teems with Syrian refugees and where some signs in shop windows are printed in both Arabic and Turkish.

Ankara has also set up refugee camps on the Syrian side of the border and the Turkish Red Crescent estimates it is providing aid to around 5 million people inside Syria.

In Turkey, where Ankara provides the migrants with some aid, many work as seasonal laborers on farms to survive.

President Tayyip Erdogan, long one of Assad's most vocal critics, is popular with the migrants in Hatay, who say he opened Turkey's borders to them when leaders in the Arab world did not. Erdogan has called on the West should do more to help Turkey shoulder the humanitarian burden.

Turks will go to the polls on April 16 for a referendum on whether to change the constitution and give Erdogan sweeping presidential powers. Although they will not be able to vote, some Syrians migrants hope that Erdogan does secure more power.

"Of course we want Erdogan to become stronger, maybe then he can help us more. Maybe then he can build homes for us here," said Gaceel al Awaad, who earns about 30 lira ($8) a day working in fields, almost all of which goes to pay rent.

"We just pray to God that we can return as soon as possible. This is the only concern for Syrians in Turkey."


REUTERS/LBCI