Children of agricultural workers work overtime in the fields in Adana

Thousands of workers come to Adana every year, which has the most fertile and vast agricultural lands.

Seasonal workers from other regions earn living wages throughout the summer.

Agricultural workers who come from Şanlıurfa to Adana and work in the agricultural sector harvest the fields with their school-age children, all summer and winter.

Agricultural workers from Şanlıurfa, who shelter in the tents they set up in the fields and contribute significantly to the agricultural sector, and their children work in the fields instead of going to school.

Children working in the fields with their families said that they wanted to study and had dreams.

“If I studied, I would be a soldier or a police officer”

14-year-old Yusuf Şimşek, one of the children working in the fields with his family, “I don’t go to school. I left school 5 years ago. I know how to write, but I don’t know how to read. I earn 50-60 liras a day. The money will increase as I get older. We work here as a family. I have a younger brother who is 4 years old.

He doesn’t go to school either, but when I grow up, I will go to school and educate him. When the onion is finished, we will go to orange, then we will go to watermelon. We will go wherever there is work. If I studied, I would either be a soldier or a police officer. Now I have become an agricultural worker.” said.

“We want shelters for agricultural workers”

Gülçin Hanter, ambassador of agricultural workers, “Children don’t go to school. We are fighting for this. Families drag the children along with them. If he leaves this child in the tent, he will fall into the water and then drown.

Our Çukurova is a business area. We want shelters for agricultural workers in Çukurova. We want it to be an educational area and we want to be able to leave the children safely. These families will stay for another 4-5 months. Children want to go to school.” he said.

“We want to send the children to school”

Eyüp Yörük, who came to work in the field with his 9 children, said, “We work here with my children. We came here from Şanlıurfa. We are on vacation. We stay in a tent. Children do not go to school. We want to send but we can’t. “I have 8 children and they do not go to school.” he said.

News Source: Ihlas News Agency (IHA)