How the earthquake in Türkiye gave the Syrians a taste of freedom

When a series of earthquakes killed thousands along the Turkish-Syrian border in February, many of the 3.6 million Syrian refugees who settled in Turkey after the start of the civil war returned to Syria.

The Turkish government initially granted Syrian refugees permission to leave earthquake-hit Turkish provinces for up to two months. As a result, hundreds of people have lined up for hours at border crossings in an effort to be reunited with their families in Syria.

Most Syrian refugees are registered in Turkey under the Temporary Protection Regulation, which gives them access to basic education and health care, but also requires that they not leave the provinces where they are registered. Major cities such as Istanbul, Ankara and Izmir had already stopped allowing such registrations in the early stages of the refugee crisis. The majority of Syrians today live in the southeastern regions of Türkiye, closer to their homeland.

Syrian actor Muhammad Hamza, 21, in Gaziantep, Turkey, a few days before he left the city and moved to Canada with his family, in April. The actor fled war-torn Aleppo and moved to Gaziantep in 2013, where he worked for a few years in a factory before he began acting in a local theater and later in major film productions. Not long after, earthquakes hit his new city, and the family was granted refugee status in Canada.

Carola Cappelari

Read more: Pictures show miraculous survival alongside destruction after earthquakes in the Middle East

For a brief moment, despite the revival of sorrows and the pain of displacement, the earthquakes in Turkey provided a rare opportunity for Syrians living in the affected area to move freely, reconnect with their relatives scattered across the various provinces, and visit what Turkey has to offer – from its major cities to its most iconic landmarks – for the first time in their lives. .

Italian photographer Carola Cappellari documents the lives of Syrian refugees along Turkey’s southeastern border. Through her work, she strives to counter the narrative of Syrians simply as hopeless victims of war.

“I wanted to focus on the positive aspects of forced migration that showed the resilience of these communities,” explains Cappelaere.

A neighbor interacts with Dua Cavi’s paintings, inspired by real-life scenarios experienced in the days after the earthquake inside the informal tented camp where Cavi was living after their home in Islah, Gaziantep, was destroyed in April. Despite the freedom of movement granted by the Turkish government to Syrian refugees after the earthquake, the Jawi family has no relatives living outside the affected area and they have not been able to benefit from it.

Carola Cappelari

According to a 2017 document that lists the rights of refugees in Turkey, returns to Syria are permitted but would be considered “voluntary return” and could “be considered grounds for cessation of temporary protection.”

That is why many have preferred to use their freedom to travel to visit other parts of the country that have hosted them for years.

Read more: The war through Syrian eyes

An entire generation of Syrians who grew up in Turkey have never seen anything outside of interrupting their mission. Through her photography, Cappelaere documented the amazement and curiosity of young Syrians who, after many years, are discovering new places for the first time while enjoying their freedom.

Syrian student Khadija*, 20, finds solace in her relative’s house in Istanbul where she moved after the earthquake that struck her city, in March. It was the first time the student had had the opportunity to leave southeastern Turkey since crossing the border from Syria a decade ago. (her name has been changed).

Carola Cappelari

A view from the house in Istanbul where Hatice* moved a few days after the February earthquake caused the closure of her university dormitory in Hatay. After spending two nights outside, the student is finally able to board a bus and leave the quake-hit area.

Carola Cappelari

Al-Mahdi traces the places he reached after his evacuation from Gaziantep a few days after the earthquake, in March. Evacuation after the earthquake, for Mehdi and his brother Samir*, meant leaving Gaziantep and boarding a plane for the first time in their lives. (Their names have been changed.)

Carola Cappelari

For Syrians in Turkey, the earthquake created an opportunity to move freely that was quickly followed by a wave of anti-immigrant sentiment ahead of Turkey’s presidential elections in May. With the re-election of Recep Tayyip Erdogan, there have been more deals between Turkey and the European Union to keep Syrians at bay, prompting many to leave the country and cross to Europe by boat through perilous sea voyages.

The short 60-day window allows many to find a brief moment of solace amid a life of limitations.

“This project aims to remind that freedom of movement is not taken for granted, that travel is a privilege for many people and many risk their lives trying to gain equal rights to movement,” says Cappelaere.

Friends and relatives accompany Mehmet Hamza and his family to the Gaziantep bus station on the day they left Gaziantep in May and headed to Toronto, Canada, where they were granted refugee status.

Carola Cappelari

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