Refugee Status
Aziz was still asleep at 9:30. I went through the predictable internal debate: "It's Sunday morning. It's not that late. Wait and see whether he gets up on his own," followed by, "I've been awake and working for three hours, he is not going to sleep in my apartment and do nothing while I work," followed by, "Am I just looking for any excuse to be annoyed with him? It's Sunday morning and it's not that late."
He woke up on his own. The following exchange took place.
"Okay, Aziz, you can't stay here indefinitely. I need to know exactly how long you need to stay and what your plan is--in detail--for finding work and a permanent place to stay."
"Plan?"
"Yes, what's your plan."
"I don't know." He sees that this is not the right answer, from my perspective, so he adds, "I look for work."
"What kind of work, where?"
"I don't know. Maybe tomorrow."
(I am thinking: No. Today. And then thinking, It's true that it's Sunday.)
"No, you need to have a specific plan, and I need to see it, today. In writing."
Frightened silence. I'm not sure he knows what I mean.
"Aziz, what are you going to do to find work? What is your plan?"
"I don't know." Uncomfortable silence. "Can you make plan for me?"
Remember, last night I spoke to him about various ideas--looking for work in a restaurant, putting an ad offering his skills on Craig's List. I put an ad for him on Craig's List, in fact.
"Aziz, you can only stay here if you are looking, full-time, for work. I can't support you and I don't want you to stay here indefinitely."
"Yes."
"I'd like you to write down your plan, with specific deadlines."
"Yes." I know full well that all he's thinking is, Don't make her angry. Say whatever you think she wants to hear.
"Okay, let's have a plan by noon."
"Yes."
I go back to work. There will be no plan by noon, and no plan ever. I know this. He's going to say that he's going out to look for work, but all he'll do is go out to get away from my insistence that he looks for work. He does not know how to look for work. Moreover, he has no legal right to work. Half of Istanbul is unemployed or under-employed, so every obstacle to working that he's about to report to me is in fact real. Even if he could find a job, it wouldn't pay enough for him to rent his own apartment: People here live with their entire extended families for a reason.
Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking. No, I can't just throw him out. Tempting though it is to find some plausible moral justification for doing that, the ghost of Victor Hugo's watching me.
Update: I was wrong. There's a plan! He just brought it to me. It reads:
Breakfast 11:00
Lunch 13:30
Dinner: 20:00
Look for work on the Internet.
Do laundry.
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Comments :
Feb '11
Re: Refugee Status
Is Sunday not a work day in Moslem Turkey?
Re: Refugee Status
It is for me. But weekends here adhere to a typical Western schedule--banks, etc. closed on Saturdays and Sundays.
Dec '10
Re: Refugee Status
How did he he come to be in your apartment? Can I come stay with you? I'll look for work; I promise.
Re: Refugee Status
Here's the story.
Mar '11
Re: Refugee Status
I don't know what Aziz's legal status is, or what Turkey's immigration laws state exactly, but often governments that accept refugees have some sort of transition-assitance program for those who are going to be living in the country for a long time.
Does Turkey not have any sort of program that can help him to seek citizenship or a work permit after they've accepted him into the country? How long is he legally allowed to be there?
Re: Refugee Status
The influx of refugees into Turkey is fast becoming a massive, potentially destabilizing crisis. The idea of an organized, understandable, responsive government program to handle cases like his expeditiously--or even provide clear answers to these questions--is so far from reality that it's kind of like ... well, I don't properly know how to explain it; I'm not sure it can be explained unless you've had some experience of what the economic and daily reality is here. And I'm not blaming Turkey for this, either: This is an insoluble problem, and I know because I'm living it. For all Turkey's faults, its policy toward refugees is deeply admirable--but they don't have the resources to handle this. His legal status is "incomprehensible limbo," where I expect it will remain for years.
Sep '10
Re: Refugee Status
This story is a fascinating window into life in the Islamic Republic as well. It sounds more like what I imagine it might have been like in the USSR than in NAZI Germany. Slow decay and dysfunction. We seem to be stumbling into a policy of containment but fighting the last war is usually not the right answer. I wonder if Turkey and the rest of Iran's neighbors could have any effect in fomenting regime change. It doesn't seem that the US can.
Mar '11
Re: Refugee Status
"The idea of an organized, understandable, responsive government program to handle cases like his expeditiously...is so far from reality...his state is incomprehensible limbo"
Got it. I suspected as much.
Re: Refugee Status
The. Last. Thing. Turkey will do right now is play around trying to foment "regime change" in Iran. Would you take the chance of another five million or ten like this coming across the border? Possibly overnight? Though I think Turkish policy has been misguided and shortsighted in so many ways, their argument that they are left holding the bag with the refugees when there's instability in the region--and that they're in no position to absorb them--is very understandable. That was a major reason for their lack of support in the Iraq War.
Sep '10
Re: Refugee Status
It is understandable but the Mullah's regime seems unsustainable to me so the world is going to have to figure out how to deal with it.
Nov '10
Re: Refugee Status
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
The. Last. Thing. Turkey will do right now is play around trying to foment "regime change" in Iran. Would you take the chance of another five million or ten like this coming across the border? Possibly overnight? Though I think Turkish policy has been misguided and shortsighted in so many ways, their argument that they are left holding the bag with the refugees when there's instability in the region--and that they're in no position to absorb them--is very understandable. That was a major reason for their lack of support in the Iraq War. · Jun 26 at 4:32am
I don't know... If I were Turkey, I'd be eyeing all that young Iranian talent pretty greedily. To put it another way, if the Iranian government were suddenly replaced by a clone of the Turkish government, there's no doubt in my mind that Iranians would prosper. Why would we think that if the entire population of Iran moved to Turkey it would be anything but a net gain?
Dec '10
Re: Refugee Status
But, But... I thought Ahmadinejad said there were no homosexuals in Iran.
May '11
Re: Refugee Status
If this is how you treat guests in your home, by complaining about them on the internet, it's a wonder you have guests at all.
Sep '10
Re: Refugee Status
Perhaps he could do some chores for you. Clean the place. Wash dishes. Cook. Run errands. Even if he doesn't respond to your limits, you will feel better internally if you keep them close at hand. Would money help? Be glad to donate to the cause.
Edited on Jun 26, 2011 at 7:02amRe: Refugee Status
Leslie Watkins: Perhaps he could do some chores for you. Clean the place. Wash dishes. Cook. Run errands. Even if he doesn't respond to your limits, you will feel better internally if you keep them close at hand. Would money help? Be glad to donate to the cause. · Jun 26 at 7:00am
Edited on Jun 26 at 07:02 am
That's really a generous impulse, but no. This has to be solved by finding him a job, not a cash infusion--that would just be a short-term fix. Very short term, in fact.
Aug '10
Re: Refugee Status
Better get him thinking handstitching some tote bags before the fundraiser starts.
Re: Refugee Status
I don't have a "guest," Skyler--I have an example of what a refugee crisis means and a huge moral dilemma on my hands.
Mar '11
Re: Refugee Status
Just so. The one we know off is in Turkey.
Dec '10
Re: Refugee Status
Sounds like you've got yourself a roomie, Claire!
Perhaps it would be cheaper and more humane in the long run to get him a plane ticket out of the region? I hope you have one for yourself, too.
Feb '11
Re: Refugee Status
claire, you said he has military experience, is the turkish military an option for him? if not, then perhaps his military experience could get him a position with the police.