Where Is Home:Migrant Wrks In Turke

[Labor Video Project]

From: Labor Video Project <lvpsf>

/* Written 11:00 AM  Sep  2, 1994 by lvpsf in igc:labr.turkey */
/* ---------- "Where Is Home:Migrant Wrks In Turke" ---------- */
From: Labor Video Project <lvpsf>


WHERE IS HOME?
 
50 families that have migrated to Beypazari are in search of a 'living
like a human being'.  They feel happy if they find work which pays 80-
90,000 TL ($3.00) per day.
 
50 families who escaped from the villages of Mardin or from the town of
Siverek in the Urfa Province are struggling for life in the small town
of Beypazari near Ankara.  Everyday a wish to live like a human being
gets compounded with the wish to return back to their homes for these
migrant families.
 
A committee organized by the Human Rights Association and attended by
Tum Saglik-Sen (Union of All Health Workers), Human Rights Foundation of
Turkey and press reporters went to Beypazari on June 28 to report on the
condition of these families.
 
The place where the Kurdish migrants live is a small land at the end of
the village right at the skirts of the mountains.  They are living
inside shacks made of plastic sheets and mats, spread around wooden
sticks.  These shacks are so small and neglected that if no people
around were seen, it would be easy to assume no human could live in
them.  But the reality is that there are 50 families with around 400
people live here, or better yet are trying to live here.  All of these
people will have to live on a very thin flow of water from a very small
pipe.  Those who are lucky to find jobs are working for 80-90,000 TL a
day ($3.00) and try to survive.
 
Fahrettin Cavus who greets the committee takes us to an arbor with a
closed overhead but open sides.  We sit down and tell them the reason
why we are here.  We ask their problems, why they had to migrate and how
the villagers treat them.  In the beginning they answer us but after a
while suddenly they stop talking.  They start whispering among
themselves.  Later we understand that a plainclothes policeman nearby is
listening to us.  They are scared so much that they can not even talk
about their problems.  It is possible to see the fear in everybody's
eyes.
 
Mehmet, age 61, sums up the situation when he says, "We are 10 people in
a house.  Only 2 of us can find work.  There is no work.  Al we get is
80-90,000 TL. a day.  You figure out the rest".  Another one asks,
"Would someone just leave his house, home, land and come here?", then he
continues, "a lot of villagers have left their villages like us.  I am
not thinking of myself.  I am thinking of everybody.  Let this bloodbath
stop soon so we can go back to our homes".
 
Those who migrated from Isikyaka (Birki) are saying that 2 or 3 days ago
their whole village has been burned down and there is nobody left in
there now.
 
The peasants fear the paramilitary 'guard' system the most.  "Someone
who has a blood feud goes and becomes a guard.  Then he goes and kills
all the family members of his enemy.  Then they either say the PKK has
done it or they say those who got killed were the PKK guerrillas.  But
this has nothing to do with the PKK.  Those who get killed were his
personal blood enemies.  This is why out of fear we can not return
home", they say.
 
Mehmet continues, "we are all running away for our lives.  What can we
do with our lives I don't know.  Is there more to it?  If it wasn't for
all the cruelty we would never have come here.  If they ask us to go one
step further, we can not!".  He stands up and leaves us.
 
CHILDREN WITH MARKED HANDS
Most people here are children.  Peasants tell us that there is on the
average, 5 kids per house and out of all the children there, only 7 are
able to go to school.  Those who can not go to school either take care
of their younger brothers and sisters or they go to work.  Someone has
painted marks with red ink on the hands of those who work.  When we ask
them what the marks are they answer that, "the boss puts those marks". 
The boss explains to the peasants that he has to take such an action
because there are so many children and he has to distinguish who is
working for him.
 
Peasants complain about the insufficiency of the toilets and say there
are a lot of cases of diarrhea among children.  They are exposed to all
dangers such as attacks or epidemic diseases.  They say that the members
of the MHP (fascist National Action Party) constantly threaten them.
 
18 year old Ayse and 32 year old Bedriye are sitting outside with their
children on their laps.  When we approach them they greet us with
sympathy.  Both have their husbands serving in the army.  They are alone
and most of the time they can not get even a bite to eat all day long. 
They say that the peasants here mostly work in agriculture but they are
not given work because they have children.  "We have to nurse them, but
we have no milk to feed the babies" they say.
 
Ayse continues to say that she has had bronchitis but she has not had
any medical care because she does not have any money and wishes her
husband to return right away.
 
As the committee is conversing with the peasants, suddenly a flurry
breaks among the people.  The word is out that, "the police has
arrived".  Soon a man in plainclothes surrounded by uniformed police
with radios in their hands approach us and he introduces himself as the
superintendent.  After he shakes the hand of each of the committee
members he sits down and says, "We, as the security organization of
Beypazari, are happy with these people.  We are here to help".  And
explaining that he is doing this for 'security reasons' he makes a list
of all the committee members.
 
We learn that after finding out that the committee will visit the place,
the security forces started to take interest in these people whom they
had not shown any interest earlier, and that they had visited them 2 or
3 times before the arrival of the committee.  And the peasants tell us
that on every visit they had threatened the people not to say anything
about their problems.  Likewise, the police continue their "escort"
service until the committee leaves.
IGNORANT LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
 
Municipality is controlled by ANAP (right wing political party) since
1989.  They have been living with these peasants for about 5 years, but
no services except for that very small amount of water have been
provided.  Deputy Mayor Mesut Ayan says, "We gave them water but we were
questioned by MHP (fascist National Action Party), DYP (conservative
right wing Right Way Party which holds office in the state government in
coalition with the social democratic party) and the people on our
purpose in providing water.  We told them that we gave the water because
of humanitarian reasons, because of health reasons.  We do not want an
epidemic disease in this town.  He confirms that for five years they
have not given any services but the reason is, "they never asked for
any!".  But as an officer of the local government he has not even seen
the place these villagers are living in.  He says he saw it once from a
distance while he was on his way to see the slaughter house.
 
But, the local government offices did not neglect to have the
surroundings checked by the municipal police.  He says they get tips
from the people that behind the plastic sheets they are doing
construction with bricks and this has to be investigated.  Out of 50
families only 59 people are registered to vote and they have voted.
 
Hundreds of Kurdish villagers are migrating, leaving behind their
villages, their land, their homes and go to places where they do not
know what is waiting for them.  They try to gather together as a means
of protection.  But they all migrate with the hope of returning back to
their home, with hope that someday someone will put a stop to all
this...
                                       Sultan Ozer from Gercek Magazine