Page 242 - A Helping Hand for Refugees

With globalization, migration has become one of the most impor-

tant issues facing the world today. More people than ever are leaving
their lands of origin and migrating elsewhere. There are two main rea-
sons for these large population shifts – security and economic worries.
In particular, the Arab Spring, which began as totalitarian regimes
turning to democracy but soon turned the Middle East into a battle-
ground, has led to a rapid rise in numbers. The majority of people in
Syria have sought refuge in neighboring countries in order to escape
the fighting inside it.

Turkey has received the greatest share of this migration. According
to the Turkish Foreign Affairs Ministry Directorate General of Migra-

tion Management, some one million people living in Syria took shelter
in Turkey because of Syria's domestic turmoil between April 2011 and
46
May 2014. The figure today is estimated to exceed 2 million. 47

240 A Helping Hand for Refugees