Baku, Azerbaijan, Apr. 28
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
One of the biggest problems facing Syrian refugees in Turkey is the growing black market for human organs.
The continuing conflict in Syria has driven more than 1.6 million Syrian to seek refugee status in neighboring Turkey. That number is expected to hit the 2 million mark before the end of 2015.
Sheltering Syrian refugees has already cost Ankara $5.5 billion, according to Turkey's Office for the Prevention and Elimination of Consequences of Emergency (AFAD) of Turkey.
In the province of Sanliurfa alone, there are some 500,000 Syrian refugees amon the population of 1.8 million.
The majority of the 300,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey are housed in camps. Istanbul alone has taken in 40,000 refugees from Syria with the rest are scattered among the other Turkish provinces.
In addition, in countries such as Jordan, Iraq and Lebanon, too, there are considerable numbers of Syrian refugees. The total population of Syria before the conflict was 20 million people.
The presence o such large number of refugees has confronted Turkey with unexpected economic and social problems.
The appearance of Syrians begging on the streets has become a serious problem, leading to the arrest of some 30,000 Syrians.
Another social problem in Turkey related to presence of Syrian refugees, is the high divorce rate in the country.
"A man can have several wives in Turkey and a marriage with a refugee from Syria costs only 3,000 TRY," or $1,200 according to the reports of human rights organizations in Turkey. "Many Turkish women do not want to put up with this and file for divorce. Syrian refugees have caused about 20 percent of divorces in the Kilis province bordering Syria alone."
Around 107,000 women are living in Syrian refugee camps in Turkey and over 20 percent of them are widows, according to official statistics. One of the biggest "consumers" of live goods. The suppliers of "live goods" have found a lucrative outlet in the oil rich Arab Gulf countries.
Many children have reportedly been kidnapped from Syria's Idlib and Aleppo provinces, reportedly to become unwilling donors of human organs. The majority of the transplantations are carried out in Lebanon, according to Arab media. The buyers are mainly citizens of the Gulf countries.
Some reports however tend to stress that many Syrian refugees also voluntarily sell their organs due to poverty problems. This mainly happens in Turkey, Jordan and Iraq. The "volunteers" get $6,000 for the costly "goods" (mainly for kidneys).
The methods of recruitment of Syrian refugees for the "black transplantology" are different in Turkey. As distinct from other countries, living conditions are created for them in Turkey for the costly "goods".
Turkish police have repeatedly revealed the facts proving that Syrian refugees became the victims of the "black transplantology" and it is interesting that in many cases, it was revealed that Syrians themselves were recruiters.
Turkey, Jordan and Iraq have only just started fighting the human organ market.
Edited by CN
Rufiz Hafizoglu is the head of Trend Agency's Arabic news service, follow him on Twitter: @rhafizoglu
