Syrians under temporary protection from a socioeconomic perspective: The example of Fatih district

The Syrian civil war which has started in 2011 forced the millions of Syrians to migrate. Thought it was internal initially then turn into what is named one of the largest mass migration movements of the current times. As a result, milions of Syrians have taken refugee in the neighboring countries. Off course a forced migration of several millions of refugees has given rise to many socioeconomic problems and even turmoils in the countries they have migrated. Turkey have incurred the both economic and social cost of the 5 million Syrian refugees by hosting them. The Syrian civil war has not ended yet and it is uncertain when it would be. Thus, the future for the Syrian is bleak. Although 9 years have passed and no progress has been made for resolving the problem. Albeit it was initially believed that the migration of Syrians would be temporary, the hope of Syrians to return one day to their country has waned day by day. As their status in Turkey have turned to be permanent, their integration into the labour markets has appeared as the central problem. This study intends to analyse the status of the Syrians in the labor market along with their working conditions, work experiences and views about their future in Turkey. The study has been carried out in Fatih (a district in Istanbul), which homes a massive Syrian refugee population and large number of workplaces owned by the refugees. As a method of data collection for the research in-depth interviews were conducted. A total of 35 people participated in the interviews, of which 29 were Syrian and 6 Turkish citizens. The participants were employees, employers and self-employeds. MaxQDA data analysis software was used for analsing the content and the contents were classified in line with the obtained code key. According to this content analysis, the findings obtained from interviews with Syrians; working hours and wage level are grouped under five headings: underemployment, indifference and informality, living standards, discrimination and social exclusion. Findings obtained from interviews with Turkish workers and employers are grouped under two headings as qualified labor force, ethnic entrepreneurship and immigrant diversity.