ALI OZDEMIR WAS shot on the head as he approached the Turkish border between the 18 and 19 May.
The 14-year-old Syrian was blinded in both eyes.
According to his father, Ali was with nine other refugees and about 10 metres from the border when they heard people speaking Turkish.
“Ali was afraid. Just as he decided to turn back from the border, he was shot in
the side of the head. There was no verbal warning and there were no warning shots in the air.”
Amnesty International says he is one of many refugees who have been shot as they try to flee the Syrian conflict.
The group issued a report this week which recorded at least 17 deaths of people trying to cross the border between last December and August 2014. It says that border guards have killed using live ammunition at unofficial crossing points. Some refugees have also been beaten and ill-treated before being pushed back to the war in their own country.
“To shoot at people who are fleeing conflict and are desperately seeking safe haven is despicable. This is a clear violation of international law which must not be left unpunished,” said Colm O’Gorman, director of Amnesty in Ireland.
“The most basic obligation of states is to open their doors to refugees fleeing persecution or war. The Turkish authorities must take comprehensive measures to ensure maximum safety and access for refugees fleeing the conflict in Syria.”
Brunt of war
Turkey, however, has taken the lionshare with 1.6 million Syrian refugees now living within its borders.
But Amnesty says only 220,000 are living in the 22 well-resourced camps. The rest are left to fend for themselves.
According to Turkish government sources, only 15% of Syrian refugees outside official camps receive assistance from humanitarian agencies and organisations.
“The reality that most Syrian refugees face once they have escaped the ravages of war is grim and hopeless. They are abandoned by the international community,” continued O’Gorman.
Ten-year old “Ibrahim” and his family fled Aleppo two years ago and moved to the Turkish border town of Kilis, where they live in a cement bunker. To survive, father and son collect plastic from garbage bins, earning 1 TL (50 cents) for each ½ kg of plastic. Young Ibrahim told Amnesty International that he wakes up each day at 6am and finishes work at around 4pm. On some days he has time to learn reading and writing from the local Imam. None of the other nine children in the family goes to school.
Amnesty believes that Turkey is struggling to meet the needs of the Syrians they have allowed through since 2011, despite spending $4 billion on the crisis.
Although it has not been all Turkey’s fault, the group’s researcher in Turkey, Andrew Gardner, points some fingers in the government’s direction.
“The result is that many of those who have made it across the border have been abandoned to a life of destitution. The humanitarian assistance offered by the international community has been pitifully low, but Turkey also needs to do more to request and facilitate it.”
While Turkey has officially opened its border crossings to Syrian refugees, the reality for many of those trying to escape the ravages of war is a different story. Many are pushed back into the war zone with some even facing live fire.
The vast majority of refugees are homed in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt. Ireland has taken in small numbers of the victims of war, pledging to allow 310 men, women and children in before 2016.
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