TURKEY: Syrian refugees cram into a border camp in Turkey as the country struggles with the one of the largest single day influxes of the 20 month old conflict

Record ID: 346689

  • Title: TURKEY: Syrian refugees cram into a border camp in Turkey as the country struggles with the one of the largest single day influxes of the 20 month old conflict
  • Date: 10th November 2012
  • Summary: CEYLANPINAR, SANLIURFA PROVINCE, TURKEY (NOVEMBER 10, 2012) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF REFUGEE CAMP SIGN OF THE CAMP
  • Embargoed: 25th November 2012 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Turkey
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVAAT8SXG1H46T6EUEI8B0TKPJ2T
  • Story Text: Thousands of Syrians fled their country on Friday (November 9) in one of the biggest refugee exoduses of the 20-month civil war after rebels seized a border town, and the United Nations warned that millions more still in Syria will need help as winter sets in.
    Around 9,000 Syrian refugees had fled to Turkey in the past 24 hours, the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday, one of the largest single day influxes, while Turkish state media said 26 defecting Syrian army officers had also arrived.
    More than 120,000 registered Syrian refugees are now sheltering in Turkish camps, and tens of thousands of unregistered Syrians are living in Turkish border towns and villages.
    The latest influx caused alarm in Turkey which is increasingly concerned about its ability to cope with such large refugee numbers and has pushed hard - so far without success - for a buffer zone to be set up inside Syria where refugees could be housed.
    The inflow could see it redouble efforts to persuade others of the need for such a buffer zone and may encourage Ankara to speed up a planned request to NATO to deploy Patriot surface-to-air missiles on its border to guard against a spillover of violence. Such a move could be part of a no-fly zone.
    State-run Anatolian news agency said around 5,000 Syrians had crossed into Turkey's Sanliurfa province overnight, fleeing fighting between rebels and Syrian government forces in the town of Ras al-Ain just across the border in Syria.
    Schools in Ceylanpinar were closed for the second day in a row, Turkish media reported. Two Turkish civilians were wounded in Ceylanpinar on Thursday (November 8) after being struck by stray bullets fired from Ras al-Ain.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register