Red Cross Work for Refugees in Western Asia Minor
Part of a letter from Dr. Wilfred M. Post.
The number of refugees who have passed over from European Turkey into Western Asia Minor since the commencement of the Balkan War is probably in the neighborhood of 56,000; the large majority of these have settled in the Broussa vilayet, a smaller number having found their way to the Konia and Angora vilayets. Most of the refugees have traveled by rail, their carts and oxen having been carried with them at the expense of the government, but a fair proportion have “trekked” into the interior all the way from European Turkey, spending several weeks on the journey. The main distribution is along the line of the Anatolian railway, the usual plan having been for a definite number to be allotted to each city or large town along the line, and then sent off as fast as possible to the villages—a few families to each village—the government hoping by this arrangement to cause the refugees to amalgamate with the Anatolian population, and also by allotting a few families to each village, to throw the burden of maintenance on the people and avoid the problems arising from concentration in large camps and settlements. This policy has been carried out most thoroughly and the many hundreds of villages from one or two hours to two or three days distance from the railway have almost all received their quota of unfortunates to care for, an exception having been made for the Christian villages, few, if any, of the latter having been thus called upon.
About a quarter or a third of the refugees have come with some personal clothing and bedding, and with some property in the shape of carts and oxen, cooking utensils and money. These have been allowed to shift for themselves, but the remainder have arrived in the interior in more or less wretched condition, having little or nothing but the clothes they wear, and in many cases only half-clad and in very poor condition to meet the rigors of the cold Anatolian winter. As long as this class of refugees remains in cities the government makes regular distributions of bread to them, about 50 paras’ worth to each adult, and 25 paras to each child per day, in some cases giving the money instead of the food, but as soon as the refugees have been shipped off to the villages the government ceases to distribute help.
HARBIE HOSPITAL.
ESTABLISHED BY DUTCH RED CROSS MISSION UNDER DR. LINGHEEK.
Those refugees remaining in the cities have also been scattered as extensively as possible, a notable instance being Konia, where 2,500 people have been scattered all over the city and surrounding gardens, a few dozen having been put into each “mahle” or quarter of the city, so that it took a week of careful search and inquiry to obtain statistics that were anywhere near accurate. This extensive scattering makes the work of relief very difficult; nevertheless much has been accomplished already and by systematic canvassing by American missionaries and native agents it is hoped that much of the suffering and need of the refugees will be discovered and relieved. Relief of over-crowding, supply of adequate clothing and bedding, opening of soup kitchens and supply of food other than the dry bread given by the government, distribution of fuel and medical aid, indicate the principal lines along which the Red Cross must work for the next two or three months. The officials everywhere express the hope that they will be able to send the refugees back to Europe for the spring, but, of course, nothing definite can be planned as yet. Whatever may be the political outcome of the Balkan war, a large number of the refugees will undoubtedly remain in Anatolia, and the Red Cross may then consider the advisability of providing employment for these people, supplying them with farm implements, etc. The large majority of the refugees are women and children, many of these having been rendered widows and orphans by the war; the few able-bodied men who have come have for the most part, been drafted into the Turkish army and sent to Chatalja, so that the question of employment will have to be considered later on. A few of the refugees are able to earn money by carting wood and grain, using their primitive oxcarts for the purpose, but most of them are idle, and on account of the great scattering throughout the country they must, unfortunately, remain so for some time to come. It is most fortunate that the general health of the refugees is good, and from the hygienic standpoint the policy of scattering has no doubt been a good one. There are, of course, many cases of sickness among them, and in the process of investigation we have found many people at the point of death from exposure and cold, the most pathetic cases being among the children. Here again the scattering makes it impossible to do much visiting, and though the communities may be saved from epidemic, many individuals, sad to say, will perish from cold, hunger and disease this winter.
MACEDONIAN REFUGEES FLEEING TO CONSTANTINOPLE.
Our investigations have been confined chiefly to the cities, where several hundreds or thousands of refugees are gathered, but we have also looked into the condition of a dozen or more villages and have found that in general the villagers have been kind to the refugees and have given them food and shelter, and have lent them clothing and bedding; but in some places the villagers have thrust the refugees into stables and broken-down hovels, with little or no clothing and bedding, and just enough food to keep body and soul together. In some instances the unfortunate, defenceless women and girls have been forced into prostitution.
The Constantinople Chapter of the American Red Cross has established relief work in Konia and Broussa along the lines indicated above. In Konia a systematic canvass of the city and surrounding villages has been made, and bedding and clothing distributed according to need; in many cases eight or ten people were found sharing one quilt, and women and children walking about the frozen streets with bare feet. For people in the city we distributed tickets having the articles they were to receive indicated on them, and the distribution was made on the mission premises. The government, however, forbade us to carry on independent work and insisted that all articles for distribution must be handed over to them; we were unwilling to accept this condition, so work was stopped for the time being. In Broussa an effort has been made to get the people into more sanitary quarters than they now occupy; we found many places where eight, ten and even twelve people were packed into a tiny mud-floored room about ten feet square, damp and dismal, and with one or two of the family sick—in one case three people, one with ulcers and two with dysentery, reposing under one small and filthy quilt. Not only must these people be gotten speedily into more healthy surroundings, but some sort of sanitary supervision must be established over the quarters to which they are to be removed. It is our expectation to open one or more soup kitchens and inaugurate some medical work.
We have turned over the city of Eski-Shehir to the Germans, who promise to attend to its needs and to those of the surrounding region. We hope through the above arrangements to get into direct touch with more than half the refugees in Asia Minor, and trust that where our work is unable to reach them other helpers may come forward to tide them over this first difficult winter.