My Forgotten War
The Documentary Podcast
BBC
4.3 • 2.7K Ratings
🗓️ 7 November 2023
⏱️ 28 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Turkey hosts the largest population of refugees and asylum seekers in the world. These include around 3.6 million Syrians, who fled there during the war in their country. Now many of those Syrian refugees feel forgotten, and again unsafe, and tensions with locals are higher than ever. Seven years ago, the EU handed Turkey 6 billion euros in a deal to stop Syrians heading to Europe. Since then, many Turks say their welcome has worn thin. And now, the Turkish government is deporting Syrians it says are in Turkey illegally, back to the warzone.
Karam was 19 when the President of Syria, Bashar al-Assad, had security forces fire on peaceful protestors and arrest hundreds of citizens. Karam was one of those arrested, and after being released he eventually paid a people smuggler to take him to Turkey. He believes that he’ll be arrested and tortured if he returnsto Syria. But he’s also afraid to stay in Turkey, saying that local Police ask for his papers around five times a day.
Hannah Lucinda Smith is in Esenyurt, a predominantly Syrian district around an hour's drive from the centre of Istanbul, speaking to both Syrians and Turks about why tensions have escalated. She's asking what’s next for Syrians living there, and whether or not it will ever be safe enough for them to return home.
A Depictar production for the BBC World Service.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From the B. |
| 0:02.0 | He knew his way around the underground. |
| 0:04.0 | I would never imagine if he was capable of doing what he did. |
| 0:08.0 | Launder tens of millions of dollars for the North Korean. |
| 0:12.0 | The Lazarus heist, season two, is available now. |
| 0:14.8 | Find it wherever you get your podcasts. |
| 0:17.1 | I feel sad about what happened to my country. There is no safety. You can be killed or arrested anytime. |
| 0:30.0 | Forsterly their homes during the war, millions of Syrians have ended up as refugees in Turkey. |
| 0:37.0 | They feel forgotten, but worse than that, many now say they once again feel unsafe. |
| 0:46.3 | Yesterday I've been sobbed by the police five times. |
| 0:50.4 | They are searching for any reason to move you from here. |
| 0:55.0 | Honestly, if I had no choice but to go back to Syria, I prefer first in my life. |
| 1:04.0 | The war in Syria has displaced more than half its people. |
| 1:07.6 | Neighbouring Turkey now hosts 3.6 million Syrian refugees, more than any other country in the world. |
| 1:15.0 | Europe wants them to stay there. |
| 1:17.0 | Seven years ago, the European Union handed Turkey 6 billion euros in a deal to stop Syrians heading to Europe. |
| 1:25.0 | I saw that there was desperation in the EU and they were willing to give us anything at that time |
| 1:30.0 | just to stem the flow. |
| 1:32.0 | Since then, many Turks say that that time just to stem the flow. |
| 1:37.0 | Since then, many Turks say that their welcome has worn thin, and now the Turkish government is deporting Syrians |
| 1:40.0 | it says are in Turkey illegally back to the war zone. |
| 1:44.0 | I'm Hannah Lissinder Smith and I've been living in Istanbul and reporting on Syria and its refugee crisis for a decade. |
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