Turkey, which is classified by the World Bank as a developing country, has been internationally praised for its willingness to accept millions of refugees from Syria and to accommodate their health care, education and social welfare needs. However, Syrians are required to obtain formal sponsorship in order to work, and permits are typically granted only to highly skilled refugees. As a result, more than 2 million Syrians are not legally authorized to work in Turkey, and the burden frequently falls on children.

Although Adil’s father eventually found a job in the informal economy, kids are often the breadwinners in Syrian refugee families. According to a new study released by the Migration and Politics Research Center at Hacettepe University in Ankara, a Syrian refugee working in Turkey is more likely to be a child than an adult.

“Especially in seasonal or labor-intensive sectors like agriculture, construction or textile, Syrian child labor has become the norm,” said Murat Erdogan, the study’s author and the director of the center. “[Syrian refugee children] are easier to manipulate, less demanding and most definitely cheaper than everyone else. Children learn the language more easily, and they acquire the skills required for basic jobs much faster.”

Adil, who now speaks fluent Turkish, is an example. “When I started working here, I started with basic things like carrying items and running errands. In three years, I learned everything I could. Now I can operate all the machines and do ironing. But my salary is still the same as when I started three years ago,” he said.

Ali Attar, a Turkish textile worker and activist, said his young colleagues are disproportionately Syrian. In the Istanbul neighborhood of Caglayan, home to many of the city’s textile workshops, more Arabic than Turkish is heard during business hours. On weekdays, it’s common to see young Syrians going in and out of workshops carrying bundles of clothes. “Before the refugee influx, there was a labor shortage in the textile sector in Turkey. Now this gap is filled primarily by young Syrians,” he said.