The recent tenth anniversary of the Syrian revolution comes loaded with frustration and challenges for Syrians, especially those displaced inside Syria who are living in camps and those who live in exile who are struggling with changing country policies and a trend towards not accepting more refugees. This has translated on the streets and on social media platforms into racist campaigns and hateful rhetoric towards refugees, not only in Turkey, where I now live, but around the world as well.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR), Turkey has received the largest number of refugees worldwide, the majority of them Syrian, with 3.6 million registered refugees who were forcibly displaced during the years of war and conflict. 

Of this 3.6 million, UNICEF reports that there are 1.6 million Syrian refugee children in Turkey, many of whom require ongoing psychological and medical support caused by the deep wounds left by the war. That number creates massive challenges and responsibility for the international and local NGOs working to ensure that this future generation receives the support, education, and training they need to succeed later in life. However, despite large increases in enrollment rates in schools, a significant number of Syrian refugee youth have been forced to drop out of school to work and support their families. 

Ahmad, a 20 year old from Aleppo, left Syria in 2013 after his father was killed in a bombing that targeted his house in the Tariq-Albab neighborhood in Aleppo. Despite all the hardships Ahmad’s family faced when they decided to settle in Turkey in the Al-Fatih neighborhood in Istanbul, he now works in construction and he’s learned Turkish, which has enabled him to communicate with his Turkish neighbors. However – this came at the expense of his education. 

“After I left Syria, I did not have a chance to go to school. I had to work to help my family here in Turkey. Last year, I lost my brother because of COVID, therefore, life became even more difficult for us.” Ahmad says.

“I don’t think I will be ever coming back to Syria, this dream is vanished. We have nothing there, no house, no work, and no one we know is there,” Ahamd says when asked if he is thinking of returning to his country. 

Syrian youth also face challenges around identity. Hamza and his family lived under siege for five continuous years in Eastern Ghouta.  In 2018, they were forcibly displaced after a heavy military bombardment. At that time, he was only 2.5 years old.

Hamza feels the changes that come with displacement and asks many difficult questions that are hard to answer for someone his age – questions about his identity, language, and country of origin such as, “When will we go back to Syria? Why did we leave? Why is Syria broken? Are we going to see my grandfather again?”

“We don’t know how he catches these ideas. He was a little child when we left Syria,” his mother Noor says.

Questions about Syrian youth in Turkey and the future life they face in a new country are to be considered against a larger backdrop of anti-immigrant sentiment. Prior to any elections in Turkey, some political parties ignited hate speech against refugees. They throw the refugee cause on the table because they know it will resonate in the ears of Turkish voters. Syrian refugees try to adapt to these circumstances and pressure – they have no other choice. The war in Syria has not ended, and there is no political solution in sight.