New York Times Reports that Influx of Low-Skilled, Undocumented Immigrants Hurts Workers . . . in Turkey

Well, well, well . . . 

Many here in Eskisehir [a city in Turkey experiencing tough economic times] say that an influx of refugees from Syria and others without Turkish work papers is making the economy worse – even though Eskisehir is 400 miles from the Syrian border. “That’s a major problem, “ Mayor Byukersen said. “The number of Syrian refugees is increasing by day and they are adding to our unemployment problem.”

Unemployed workers wait all day in hopes of meeting employers in front of Eskisehir’s central mosque, a smaller version of Istanbul’s famed Hagia Sophia. Osman Boyaci, 50, who has two children, said that he and his fellow workers would normally expect to earn $20 for a day’s labor on a construction site, but were losing work to truckloads of Syrian immigrants who would accept $6 a day.