Ensure open access for journalists, aid workers and human rights organizations

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) today directed a written appeal to Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urging him to ensure open access to Syrian refugee camps in the Turkish province of Hatay for aid organizations, representatives of human rights organizations and journalists. "As positive a step as it is that Turkish authorities have set up the camps, it is not right that all aid organizations except the Turkish Red Crescent are prevented from providing direct aid to the refugees. On the contrary, all aid and human rights organizations, as well as journalists, should be allowed unobstructed access to all camps," demanded the STP.

Dr. Kamal Sido, head of the Middle East section of the STP, is currently traveling in Turkey, in the region near the Syrian border. He estimates the number of refugees from Turkey's neighboring country to be 9,900. Syrian security forces have killed at least 1,500 Syrians and wounded some 8,000 more. The STP puts the number of imprisoned Syrian citizens at 10,000 to 15,000.