AMED - "Because of them, we got scabies, the population multiplied and the economic crisis came", some say about Rojavan and Syrian women who are victims of war. Whether they are understood or not, refugee women do not feel safe.

 

Thousands of people have lost their lives and millions have become refugees due to the civil war that started in 2011 in Syria, one of the Middle Eastern countries where power struggles never end due to its rich resources. Although more than 13 years have passed since then, Syrian refugees are still the subject of negotiations between states, let alone solving the problems they face. Although official figures indicate that there are over 3 million Syrians in Turkey and Kurdistan, the actual number is estimated to be much higher. On the other hand, it is possible to say that refugee women and children are the most affected group in the aftermath of the war, as they were during the war.

 

They are subjected to many forms of violence

 

In order to survive in the places where they took refuge, women were forced to marry people they did not know while working in jobs they did not want. While fleeing from one war, women were caught in another. Refugee women and children, who are subjected to psychological, physical, sexual, economic and many other forms of violence, especially in the development of anti-refugee discourses in Turkey, are consequently excluded from life and condemned to live an isolated life. 

 

As JINNEWS, we observed the lives of Rojavan and Syrian women living in Amed and the attitudes towards them. We had conversations with both refugee women and women from Amed, especially in the districts of Rezan (Bağlar) where refugee women live densely.

 

Refugee women say that their lives have been difficult since the day they arrived. Why don't women feel safe as they continue their lives, which are characterized by many difficulties?

 

They experience exclusion both at home and on the street

 

Refugee women often emphasize that they are not "responsible" for the war while listing the main reasons why they do not feel safe here. Almost all refugee women we spoke to have the same problem. When asked if they would like to be interviewed on any subject, they reply, "We are not from here, nobody wants us here anyway, so it would be better if we don't talk." On the one hand, women face the fact that their fellow women do not understand them, and on the other hand, they are subjected to sexual, physical and verbal attacks by men. In addition to all these, their freedom is restricted at home by their fathers, brothers and married men on the pretext that they are in a foreign country. Women cannot benefit from the right to health care, and they also face problems in obtaining education and ensuring their economic freedom.

 

Refugee women strikingly express their feelings about the reactions they face in Kurdistan and Turkey with the following statements:

 

* We are not safe here.

 

* We are not from here, they hate us.

 

* If my husband knows that I am outside, he will kill me

 

* They look in our eyes with hatred.

 

* They say we are to blame for everything.

 

* They tell us to go back to our country.

 

* If you were men, you wouldn't have run away.

 

* You sold your land.

 

* Have you no shame?

 

* We have a lot of poverty here and we can't communicate with anyone.

 

With the support of the anti-refugee mentality, some citizens who share their views and make refugees feel insecure are as follows:

 

* Because of them, the population has increased and there is an economic crisis.

 

* They are very stingy, everything stinks.

 

* "They brought scabies, everyone has scabies.

 

* There is no trace of the old Diyarbakır.

 

In addition to discriminatory and racist attitudes, there is also a large group of people who stand in solidarity with refugee women. Some of the citizens who emphasized the importance of solidarity and shared their views are as follows:

 

* We may also be at war tomorrow, we should be in solidarity with them.

 

* They are our brothers, I don't find it nice to treat them badly.

 

* Their being here does not bother me, they are not here for pleasure.

 

* No one wants to leave their land and come here.

 

* As women, we need to understand them the best.

 

They are the target and they are the ones struggling...

 

While the problems faced by refugee women living in Kurdistan cities and the attitude of citizens towards them are like this, the growing hatred in metropolitan cities with anti-refugee movements makes the picture even worse. While refugee women emphasize that they want to go back to their country but for this to happen, the war must end, women are the ones who suffer the most from war, migration, economy, social life and almost every aspect of life, just like everywhere else in the world. Refugee women are not only the leading actors in all these problems, but also the pioneers of the struggle for life.