Turkish Groups Are Building 10,000 Houses for Refugees While US Builds Zero for Homeless
by John Lawrence, January 26, 2020
January 23, 2020 - NY Times reports:
ANKARA — Turkish aid groups have begun building more than 10,000 houses in Syria's northwestern province of Idlib to shelter growing numbers of people displaced by fighting, while Turkey seeks to prevent a new influx of migrants fleeing from Syria.
The houses are being erected near a Syrian village next to the Turkish border, an area so far spared from the air strikes and fighting which have uprooted hundreds of thousands of people.
Syrian and Russian forces have bombarded rebel-controlled targets in Idlib this week despite a deal between Turkey and Russia, which back opposing sides in the conflict, for a Jan. 12 ceasefire. On Thursday Russia said hundreds of Syrian militants launched attacks on Syrian government forces in Idlib.
Turkey already hosts more than 3.5 million Syrian refugees and fears that the fighting in Idlib - the last notable rebel stronghold in Syria after almost nine years of conflict - could drive millions more across the border. ...
"We provide food and clothes to the families on the migrant trail, but we also need to provide them shelter throughout the winter months," IHH Deputy Chairman Serkan Nergis said.
Nergis said the houses would provide better shelter than the existing tent camps near the border. The houses "will begin hosting their guests in a few days", with the goal of accommodating 60,000 people, Nergis said. ...
Turkey's Kizilay aid group also said this week it will build 1,000 emergency housing units in Idlib, which would be completed in 2-3 weeks.
Meanwhile, the US, both at the state and national levels, dithers for years and years and has not built one house for the 500,000 homeless people in the US. If Turkey can build 1000 housing units in 2-3 weeks, it seems that the US should be able to build just one here in the 30 years this crisis has been developing. There is also the issue that the US should be doing more to help Middle East refugees since the American military did a lot to create them.
However, the best that the City of San Diego and other California cities can do is to provide safe parking lots so that homeless people with vehicles can park them there and sleep there. It's a far cry from some Third World country able to build 1000 houses in 2-3 weeks. The US and California in particular have been dithering for years while housing prices and rents have skyrocketed to the point that only hedge funds and a few rich people can afford to buy a house any more. The hedge fund Blackstone boasts on its website: "We are a global leader in real estate investing. We seek to utilize our global expertise and presence to generate attractive returns for our investors and to make a positive impact on the communities in which we invest."
The Sothebys International Real Estate site says: "The Sotheby's International Realty® network provides access to luxury real estate and homes for sale worldwide. Our website lets you search property listings globally, and includes a large inventory of luxury homes for sale. Our listings include all types of homes, including houses, condos, townhomes, villas and more. We can also match your lifestyle choices such as waterfront, golf, island, vacation, mountain and many others." Berkshire Hathaway Home Services boasts "Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices is a real estate brokerage franchise network designed for today’s real estate market. From first time homebuyers to high-end residential markets to middle-market communities to commercial real estate, our franchisees are down to earth, nimble and local experts. This network of members and agents wouldn’t be a part of the Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices network if they weren’t."
All the free money the Fed is pumping into the economy, which hedge funds have access to, is driving up the cost of real estate just as it is bidding up the stock market. These guys know that so they buy low and as the real estate market appreciates, they sell high and higher. This effectively prices the little guy out of the market - both the home buying market and the rental market - creating ever more homeless people including those who have at least one asset - their car. The homeless are really US internal refugees. Other countries like Turkey actually help refugees and build houses for them in their home countries so they don't flood across the border. The US neither builds homes for its homeless population nor does it build homes for poor people in Central America who are attempting to flood across US borders.
