A recent study on the conditions of Syrian children in the southeastern city of Antakya, near the Syrian border, once again revealed the extent of child exploitation in Turkey. One of the interviewed bosses made no secret of the excess profits he attained from the misery of refugee children.
According to the daily Evrensel, the research conducted by Nihat Kireçdağ, a master’s student at the Department of Labour Economics at Kocaeli University, shows that bosses openly declare how they rid themselves of “extra costs” by employing Syrian children in several sectors including textile, construction, service and agriculture.
50 Syrian child workers, one boss and three principals of schools which Syrian children attend participated in the study.
"I am not the only one who employs (Syrian children), everyone does it. If the state is going to fine someone, all of us (bosses) must be fined. Back in the day we worked too, and we have to think about our own income," one of the interviewed bosses explained, after being asked why he employed child workers despite several laws prohibiting it. This boss who runs a textile mill further explained that he can lower his “extra costs” by TL 4500 (around $1275) per month by recruiting refugee Syrian children.
The working conditions of Syrian children evoke Dickens’ Oliver Twist. 80% of the children work more than twelve hours a day. Even the children attending school work seven hours during weekdays in the afternoons and twelve hours on Saturdays. Half the children receive less than TL 50 (around $14) a week, the lowest earning TL 20 (around $6), while even the highest being only TL 120 (around $34).
Forty-nine of the 50 children interviewed responded to a question asking how working conditions were with “dirty, tiresome, tough." Upon being asked how their boss treated them, twenty-six of the children answered with “the boss scolds us, gets mad at us, beats us, and is very harsh.” Forty-four of the children stated that they went to work by foot and twenty-nine said that they had to provide their own meal.
The study was published in the Turkish Medical Association Journal of Occupational Health and Safety with the title "Observations Based on a Field Survey in Antioch: Syrian Refugee Children in Employment".
A recent report by Human Rights Watch (HRW), has revealed that half of all Syrian refugee children have no access to education, and thousands of them are being forced to attend 'schools' controlled by jihadist groups.
