[LINK] "Syrian refugees spark child labour boom in Istanbul"

[rfmcdonald]

It would be one thing if these Syrians, displaced from their homeland, were able to find profitable lives for themselves elsewhere. It's another thing if, as described by CBC's Nil Köksal, they do not.

The children are underfoot, barefoot, buskers and beggars. They are Syrian refugees, and many are fending for themselves on the streets of Istanbul.

Of the some two million Syrian refugees Turkey has taken in, an estimated 300,000 are living in Istanbul. Children, it is believed, make up about 150,000 of that group.

At any given time, but especially late into the night, there are scores of children on Istiklal Street off Taksim Square in Istanbul.

More than a million people walk the 2 kilometre stretch daily, but most ignore the children. As stunning as it is to see even toddlers alone on the street, to many they've become wallpaper in a busy city already bursting at the seams.

Hussein Yilmaz does what he can to get tourists' attention in Taksim Square. At 12 years old, he's doing what so many other Syrian children are doing in Turkey.

"We sell tissues, what can we do?" he says. He can bring in the equivalent of about $10 a day selling the small packets.