Hundreds of Syrians living in Turkey have returned to the war-torn country after last week’s devastating earthquake.
The Turkish government has allowed Syrians with ID cards from the quake-hit Turkish provinces to leave for up to six months.
The rule change has led to hundreds queuing for hours at border crossings.
Almost four million Syrians have settled in Turkey since civil war broke out in their home country 12 years ago.
Some survivors of last week’s earthquake are making the trip to the crossings in an attempt to reunite with family members back in Syria, some of whom they have not seen for years.
Among them is Reem, who with her nine-month old baby wrapped in a blanket, said she was travelling back to Syria after her home in Turkey was destroyed.
She told the BBC she believed hostility towards Syrians in Turkey had grown since the earthquake.
“We tried to find another place to stay but they [the Turkish] kept chasing us away asking us to return to Syria,” she said.
“We tried staying at mosques but they kicked us out. They also didn’t give us any tents. Should I stay in the street with my children? Where should we go?”
Many of those queueing have travelled with their families and large amounts of luggage, waiting for security personnel to allow them forward for processing.
Abbas Albakour told the AFP news agency he was returning home to Syria after his home in Kharamanmaras, near the earthquake’s epicentre, had been destroyed.
“In Syria, there have been problems for 12 years, but right now the biggest catastrophe is in Turkey,” he said at the Cilvegozu border crossing.
About 1,500 Syrians living in Turkey are thought to have died in the earthquake. Around 3.5 million Syrians in Turkey are registered as refugees, according to the United Nations (UN).
Source:Fiilafmonline/BBC
