In the scope of international immigration, the effects of Syrian refugees upon Turkish economy in terms of labor and foreign investments: Gazi̇antep and Şanliurfa sample

Many unpleasant conditions such as ethnic conflicts, wars, terrorist incidents, unemployment, unfair distribution of income, poverty, climate and environmental conditions force people to move different places from which they have already been living whether voluntarily or enforcedly. Although these reasons, causing millions of immigrants, refugees and asylums to migrate, may vary from country to country, economic and politic reasons come to the fore as driving and underlying forces in both centuries. Migration, known as the most random and dramatic population mobility in human history, has turned out to be a kind of humanity problem with its results. The migration reasons of 3 million 642.738 (March, 2019) Syrian refugees, migrating to Turkey during Arab Spring period, also show similarities with other reasons of migration occurring in the world. This study analyzes the impact of Syrian refugees to Turkey's economy through labor market and foreign investment by using data obtained from a field study of 15-64 age group Syrian refugees living in Gaziantep and Şanlıurfa. In the scope of study, 418 Syrian investors and 453 Syrian labor force have been reached with the help of the questionnaire, face to face interviews and observations. In the light of findings, when considering the effects of Syrian asylum seekers on Turkey's labor force and foreign investment, it has been observed that they are not of a significant negative effect on registered employment; however they are of adverse effects on unregistered employment rates and wages in general. It has been observed that increased total demand and falling labor force costs have led to employment increase in registered sector in regions with high asylum seekers density. It has been observed that asylum seekers have negative effects on public finance and inflation, as well. Asylum seekers, leading to a low rate of unemployment rate and registered employment, have also led to recession in labor force participation, unregistered employment and employment opportunities to a slight extent. Syrian asylum seekers have made significant contributions in economy by establishing businesses in different sectors with the capital they have brought via migration. This study offers a view "from consuming seekers to producing seekers" rather than a view as "consuming and creating a burden" for Syrian asylum seekers.