Ankara - A Syrian refugee child has been beaten by a restaurant manager in the Turkish city Istanbul for eating a customer's leftovers, local media reported on Saturday.
A photo circulating on social media shows the 11-year-old boy sitting bloodied on stairs after having been beaten on Wednesday by the manager of fast food chain Burger King's outlet in the Sirinevler district.
The reason for the beating, accounts say, was the boy eating a customer's leftover chips.
Halil, who fled to Turkey with his family from Aleppo, Syria two years ago said he wanted to grab leftovers because he was starving, but the manager punched him in the face and kicked his feet, the Milliyet newspaper reported.
The boy said he was begging in the streets of Istanbul to earn a living.
Burger King said that the manager was fired after the attack.
“This incident is unacceptable,” it said.
Turkey is home to nearly two million Syrian refugees. Many reside in camps along the border, but others are scattered throughout the country, including big cities like Istanbul and Ankara. - AFP