Syrians in Turkey According to Directorate General of Migration Management Data

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After the Governorship of İstanbul announced that the Syrians not registered in the city would have to leave İstanbul in less than a month, the announcement is still a matter of debate.

Making a statement yesterday (July 24), Minister of Interior Süleyman Soylu stated that "they had to keep unregistered refugees under control."

"We are not deporting anyone, we cannot", Soylu stated further and added, "Our job is to send the fugitives to camps when we catch them."

According to the data of Ministry of Interior, Directorate General of Migration Management, as of July 11 this year, the number of Syrians registered under temporary protection with biometric data is 3 million 630 thousand 575.

The statement released by the Directorate has indicated that the number of registered Syrians in Turkey has increased by 16 thousand 931 people in a month. While 1 million 965 thousand 595 of these Syrians are men, the remaining 1 million 664 thousand 980 are women.

46.38 percent under the age of 18

While there are 1 million 684 thousand 207 Syrians between the ages of 0 and 18, 1 million 26 thousand 756 of them are under the age of 10. In other words, 28.08 percent of Syrians registered in Turkey are under the age of 10. When the ones under the age of 18 and women are taken together, they account for 70.07 percent of the total number.

Rate of young Syrian population

There are 819 thousand 60 Syrians between the ages of 15 and 24, which means that the rate of young Syrian population in Turkey is 22.56 percent. Turkey's rate of young population as a whole is 15.8 percent.

While the average age of registered Syrians is 22.5, the average age of Turkey according to 2018 data is 31.7.

300 thousand more men than women

The number of Syrian men is 300 thousand 615 more than that of women. The data of the Directorate have shown that the older the Syrians are, the narrower this gap gets. Accordingly, the number of Syrian women above the age of 55 is higher than men. The number of registered Syrians has increased by 7 thousand 383 people since December 31, 2018.

103 thousand people live in camps

The number of Syrians living in temporary shelters has been announced as 103 thousand 579 as of July 11, 2019. This figure was 109 thousand 262 people in June 2019 and 228 thousand 251 in December 2017. Accordingly, the number of Syrians living in temporary refuge centers has fallen by 124 thousand 672 since early 2018. Only 2.85 percent of Syrians live in camps.

Syrians living in cities

As of July 11, the number of Syrians living in cities of Turkey is 3 million 526 thousand 996. This figure has increased by 22 thousand 614 people when compared with last month. 97.15 percent of Syrians live in cities. Syrians can currently only register in Adana, Çanakkale, Diyarbakır, Elazığ, Antep, Hatay, Kayseri, Kocaeli, Mardin, Tekirdağ, Urfa and Kilis. In other cities, they can be registered only in cases of serious health problems, marriage and childbirths. The cities that receive new registrations are periodically changed by the Migration Management. İstanbul is closed to receiving Syrians.

Number of Syrians according to provinces

According to data of the Migration Management, the highest number of Syrians live in İstanbul with 547 thousand 479 people, the lowest number of them live in Bayburt with 25 people. Bayburt is followed by Artvin with 35 Syrians and by Tunceli with 56 Syrians.

Considered in terms of population density, the highest rate of Syrians live in Kilis with 81.14 percent. The number of Syrians registered in the province has increased by 133 thousand people in a month. The rate of the ones residing in İstanbul has also increased by 1,183 people in this period. There are no cities in Turkey without any Syrians.

The Syrians living in Turkey under temporary protection account for 4.43 percent of Turkey's population. The Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat) has recently announced the population of Turkey as 82 million 3 thousand 882.

Number of naturalized Syrians

In a statement released by the Ministry of Interior, the number of Syrians who have been granted citizenship of Turkey was announced as 79 thousand 894 people as of March 8, 2019.

According to the statement of the Ministry, as of November 2017, the number of Syrian babies born in Turkey over the last eight years was 405 thousand 521. On July 21, 2019, the Ministry of Interior announced that 337 thousand 729 Syrians returned to their country.

Number of Syrians with work permit

In a statement made by the Ministry of Family, Labor and Social Services on March 31, 2019, the number of Syrians given work permits in Turkey was 31 thousand 185. According to a statement released by the Ministry of Trade, as of February 26, 2019, the number of companies with at least one Syrian partner was 15 thousand 159. (HA/SD)