Archive for category: Refugees

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Local and Global: UNHCR Works to Help Refugees and So Can You

help refugeesJune 20 marked the 18th anniversary of world refugee day. There are currently 68.5 million forcibly displaced people worldwide. Of those millions, 25.4 million people are classified as refugees.

World Refugee Day holds a long history of support for those in need. This day is celebrated in order to give all an opportunity to help refugees and to create a public awareness for millions of lives that are in need of saving.

Since the beginning of World Refugee Day in 2000, the refugee crisis has increased greatly. Growing from 12 million in 2000 to more than 20 million in 2018, refugees can be found seeking shelter in many countries.

The United Nations

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has taken steps to fight the refugee crisis. The UNHCR provides assistance and support to refugees all over the world. Present in 128 countries and 478 locations around the world, the UNHCR is helping those wherever they can.

For example, in Ukraine, the UNHCR is working with the Ukrainian government to help strengthen the asylum system and gives medical, material and social assistance to those refugees and internally displaced people. In Ukraine, there are currently 1,800,000 people who are internally displaced and 3,253 refugees from other countries.

Along with working with the government and giving assistance to those in need, the UNHCR in Ukraine provided 843 homes with winter cash assistance in 2018.

Another recent effort presented by the UNHCR was their assistance in Montenegro. On April 3 the UNHCR paired with the Red Cross and opened the first Community Centre for persons seeking international protection.

Education

The UNHCR doesn’t only just provide physical materials and goods; they also are committed to bringing education to refugees all over the world.

By the end of 2016, the UNHCR had encouraged 64 out of 81 countries to put policies in place to support the inclusion of refugee children in the respective countries education system. After this push, more than 984,000 refugee children were enrolled in primary education.

Of that 984,000 refugee children, 250,000 were not attending school at the time.

How to Help

While the UNHCR is continually working to better the lives of refugees all over the world, there is still plenty of work that can be done on the individual level for refugees. Here are five ways that anyone can get involved no matter where they may be.

  1. Volunteer a skill: Having a specific skill or talent can be used for good to help refugees. Whether knowing how to budget extremely well or how to create a website, there are refugees in local communities who would appreciate learning a new talent or skill to help them with their future endeavors.
  2. Spread awareness: Hold fundraisers, raffles, yard sales or meetings to spread the word about the refugee crisis. There are some that may know there is a problem, but don’t know much more than that. By putting on events and spreading the word, education about this crisis will increase awareness.
  3. Call the House Representatives and the Senate: Calling local state representatives is a quick and easy way to let one’s voice be heard. Placing a call to a member of the House or Senate will let them know that this is an issue that you care about and want to address.
  4. Support business and organizations run by refugees: Moving to a new country and facing the economic challenges of that country can be one of the hardest things for refugees. Supporting their family can be difficult for refugees in a new country. Make an effort to buy from refugees to help them get started in a new place.
  5. Donate: Donating can be one of the easiest ways to help refugees in need. Donations can be for organizations that go out into the field and provide physical goods or they can be for organizations, like The Borgen Project, that push elected officials to support and pass laws to help those in need.

While the refugee crisis continues to grow, it is important to know that anyone can take part in getting laws passed to protect refugees or can offer kindness to those who are adjusting to drastic life changes.

– Victoria Fowler
Photo: Flickr

Recent Genocides in Sudan and Myanmar Highlight Ongoing Issue

Recent Genocides
Genocide is defined as the deliberate killing of a large group of people, especially those of a particular ethnic group or nation. Recent genocides have occurred in Sudan against Darfur’s ethnic Fur, Massalit, and Zhagawa peoples and in Myanmar against its Rohingya minority.

Tensions Continue as a Result of Sudanese Genocides

Since gaining independence from the United Kingdom and Egypt in 1956, Sudan has struggled to find peace between its Muslim northern regions and its animist and Christian southern regions. Continuous conflict led to the creation of an autonomous South Sudan, but tensions persist. Civil wars in the region have taken an estimated 2.5 million lives and displaced approximately four million people.

Beside the warring north and south of Sudan, recent genocides have occurred in a western part of the nation known as Darfur. In February 2003, rebel groups led by predominantly by non-Arab Muslim sedentary tribes, including the Fur and Zaghawa, rose up against the Khartoum government due to unequal treatment and economic marginalization. In response, the government sent militias known as Janjaweed, which translates to “evil men on horseback,” whose duties were to carry out attacks on villages. The Janjaweed used slash and burn methods to decimate communities as well as injuring and murdering civilians and poisoning wells.

The Darfurian genocide was the first genocide of the 21st century and its unrest and violence have not yet ceased. As of 2016, more than 480,000 people have been murdered and more than 2.8 million people have been displaced. Many refugees have fled Sudan and some have been living in camps for more than 10 years.

Recent Genocides in Myanmar Draw Global Attention

Myanmar, the nation formerly known as Burma, lived under the governance of an oppressive military junta from 1962 to 2011. The government is now under civilian control, but the military continues to wield extensive power and commit human rights abuses. Its population is mostly Buddhist with large Christian and Muslim minorities.

Two-thirds of Myanmar’s people identify as Burmese or Bamar, but there are 135 ethnic minorities residing in the country. The Christian Karen people and the Muslim Rohingya people of Myanmar have faced long-standing systemic violence and oppression from the Buddhist government. Aid agencies estimate that 200,000 Karen have been driven from their homes in the decades of conflict and as recently as 2010 the government was still burning, shelling and abusively sweeping Karen villages.

The Rohingya Muslims have also had a long-standing history of genocide and statelessness. In 1982, the Burmese military stripped the Rohingya of their citizenship, claiming that they were Bengali despite their having lived in Burma’s Rakhine State for generations. This led to a mass migration of over 250,000 Rohingya people to Bangladesh in 1991 and 1992, but they were met with deportation once in Bangladesh and were forced to return to Burma.

The recent genocides of the Rohingya in Myanmar began in 2012 when political party officials, senior Buddhist monks and state security forces committed mass killings of men, women and children. The cleansing left 150,000 Rohingya homeless and more than 100,000 fled the country.

Even more recently, in August 2017, a small rebellion of Rohingya militants led to military retaliation against any and all Rohingya people. These attacks caused the largest refugee movement since the Rwandan genocide. More than 675,000 Rohingya fled the country within three months to seek safety in Bangladesh. As of January 2018, more than one million Rohingya refugees have been registered in Bangladesh.

Fulfilling the Promise to End Genocide Worldwide

Ethnic cleansing and genocide are not acts of the past. Religious and cultural minorities continue to face persecution and attempts at forced extinction. However, this does not mean that individuals elsewhere must simply be bystanders to such atrocities. Raising awareness about the genocides occurring in the world and donating time or money to organizations that work to end genocide can make an impact and ensure that the world does not turn a blind eye to those in danger.

The organization United to End Genocide states that one of the best ways for individuals to help prevent and stop genocide is to vote for representatives who support foreign aid and acknowledge global atrocities. Support representatives who make the end of genocide a priority.

– Carolina Sherwood Bigelow
Photo: Flickr

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Pianoterra Puts Refugee Mothers and Children First

PianoterraIn Italian, “pianoterra” translates to “ground floor.” Pianoterra is also an organization based in Italy that is working to keep refugee mothers and children safe.

The Mission of Pianoterra

Pianoterra was founded by Alessia Bulgari, Flaminia Trapani and Ciro Nesci. According to the group’s website, “[the founders’] stories are intertwined by personal ties: Alessia and Flaminia are cousins, Flaminia and Ciro are husband and wife.”

The organization was founded in 2008 with the main goal of helping immigrant women get the necessary things to be able to prosper in Italy. When the organization began, 58 percent of the women seeking help from the organization was Italian while the other 50 percent was foreign. Today, 98 percent are foreign women.

Pianoterra’s Past Initiatives

Pianoterra has led several initiatives to improve the lives of refugee women and children. Two of these important projects include “Right to Feed – Support of Breastfeeding” and “From Mom to Mom.”

The project “Right to Feed – Support of Breastfeeding” began in January 2009. The project was aimed at mothers who were unable to breastfeed and did not have a sufficient amount of money to be able to feed their children. Pianoterra worked to “distribute free formula milk, according to pediatric prescriptions, and other basic necessities.”

With the “From Mom to Mom” initiative, Pianoterra helped mothers by collecting and distributing second-hand items for children. By collecting second-hand articles and connecting the women who donate with the women in need, mothers are “directly linked to a solidarity network of other women and mothers willing to support,” according to the organization’s website.

The Immigration Situation in Italy

Currently, immigration to Italy is occurring in large numbers. In 2018 alone, approximately 33,000 refugees have fled to Italy. However, the nation’s new interior minister has stated that “the country will no longer be ‘Europe’s refugee camp,’” according to TeleSur.

With the new government leaders in Italy, many refugees cannot count on staying in Italy. TeleSur reports that Italy’s “right-wing League stated that the vast majority of migrants in Italy have no right to refugee status, Italy cannot help them and by accepting low pay they worsen the working conditions of Italians.”

Although the Italian government is changing, there are still organizations working to help women and refugees prosper in the country. Pianoterra will continue to assist mothers in caring for their children and bettering their futures.

– Valeria Flores
Photo: Flickr

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How the Media Misrepresents the Refugee Crisis and Its Impacts

Media Misrepresents the Refugee Crisis
The European Refugee Crisis has become one of the most discussed and debated conflicts in international discourse and current affairs in the world today. Given its ubiquitous presence, the media also plays a crucial role in transcending awareness to the international community about key underlying global issues.

Power of the Media

However, the media misrepresents the refugee crisis due to (oftentimes) inadequate coverage. There is a strong correlation between media portrayal and the reception that ‘media bias’ can have on various audiences. This occurrence, as well as photographic evidence, can give rise to negative perceptions of the situations and news stories at hand.

A majority of the time, even the visual imagery of photography in the media can contribute to a warped, and sometimes over-exaggerated, view of the situation. On the other hand, some cases — such as the Mediterranean crisis in 2016 — a shocking image can become a very powerful and lasting symbol for the refugee crisis. In 2016, the limp body of Alan Kurdi, a 3 year-old Syrian, washed up onshore and became just that; his dead body caused a huge outcry and a great deal of global outrage.

The reaction to Kurdi is a direct example of the media’s scope, power and influence in global information. Moreover, the rather high incidence of “fake news” stories is also changing the tide of mainstream media coverage and giving rise to more inflammatory rhetoric, racism, controversy and division.

The Misrepresentation of the Refugee Crisis

The media misrepresents the refugee crisis also largely in reference to the growing skepticism associated with new immigrants crossing international borders. A number of media forums are often pervaded by hate speech and campaigns against refugees; such portrayals can give rise to increased hysteria and the spreading of misinformation.

The deficiencies in media coverage of the refugee crisis can often cause overly biased narratives that hinder efforts at raising awareness about key issues and shedding light on the unbiased truth. Given the often divisive nature of geopolitics, news stories are often written with the intention of covering international affairs. As a result, humanitarian concerns and concerns about human rights for refugees can also be quite politicized in nature and impact interpretations.

With the prominence and importance of these topics, though, media coverage should aim to not only cover these topics, but also shed light on positive stories associated with the refugee crisis. Sustainable news sources — objective and advocacy journalism and community media, for instance — can help counteract associations of overly negative images when the media misrepresents the refugee crisis.

Quest to Ensure Journalistic Integrity

Moreover, journalistic integrity must be maintained through free press. With more accurate representation in the media, immigrants and refugees can become more humanized and realistic in media coverage, and thereby demonstrate the more optimistic and “good news” side of reality.

Such accurate depictions will also benefit various key stakeholder groups involved in the refugee crisis — such as governments and international organizations. Positivity in the media could ensure greater ease in the provision of humanitarian and development aid and packages.

So there must be increased levels of inclusion and greater coverage of important stories to counter the media misrepresenting the refugee crisis. This change can help the international community take up a larger role in addressing large and pertinent issues, such as human rights.

– Shivani Ekkanath
Photo: Flickr

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Rescuing Migrants Crossing the Mediterranean Sea

Rescuing Migrants Crossing the Mediterranean Sea
For thousands of years, the Mediterranean Sea has been a giver of life to those who settle near its shores. Today, the body of water is seen as a gateway to a better life for many migrants fleeing violence and poverty. But their journey does not end at the first sight of Mediterranean. It is estimated by The Mediterranean Situation, an organization which monitors migrant activity in the Mediterranean, that over 16,000 migrants have died or gone missing crossing the Mediterranean Sea between 2018 and 2014.

Migrants Crossing the Mediterranean Sea

Small overcrowded boats are often used by thugs and smugglers who charge over a thousand dollars per person for abusive transportation from Africa to Europe. These boats, piloted by unskilled captains, are not built for open water travel or to withstand the ever-changing weather of the Mediterranean Sea. This is why countries most affected by the smuggling activities are prioritizing the rescue of migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea.

Rescuing migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea is no easy task — especially if your nation is split by a power vacuum caused by a civil war. Libya is a popular starting point for many migrants who plan to cross over the sea to Italy. Aside from being geographically close to Italy, the Libyan government and its navy are underfunded and trained. This status makes it difficult to thoroughly patrol the north African nation’s coastline.

Italy has taken the brunt of migrants crossing the Mediterranean with nearly 120,000 migrants arriving to its borders in 2017, and almost 190,000 in 2016. The migrant crisis was one of the most important issues during the recent Italian election, which helped to bring a coalition government of two eurosceptic parties to power.

Governments and Charities

Rescuing migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea is still important to Italy; in fact, $52 million has been pledged to increase Libya’s capacity to combat human smuggling through 2020.

State governments are not the only actors attempting to rescue migrants crossing the Mediterranean Sea. Charities, such as the Spanish Proactiva Open Arms, patrol the Mediterranean Sea searching for migrants in need of rescue. Indeed, Proactiva Open Arms’ mission in the  Mediterranean has saved over 26,000 lives. Due to the organization’s claims that migrants undergo human-rights abuses when returned to Libya, Proactiva Open Arms often brings rescued migrants to shore in Europe.

According to international maritime law, all vessels, private or otherwise, must rescue those in need. The vessel’s origin does not mean that the rescued people are now the responsibility of its national origin; but where the rescued people are put ashore does. This has put Proactiva Open Arms in conflict with the Italian government.

Rescue Efforts and Proactiva Open Arms

When Proactiva Open Arms volunteers and their boat brought migrants to Italy in April 2017, the volunteers were arrested and their boat impounded. The Italian government sought to press charges against the volunteers for bringing the migrants to Italy and not back to Libya, but a Sicilian judge disagreed. The judge agreed with the Proactiva Open Arms volunteers who claimed that Lyiba does not have the proper resources to help the migrants and that they would face abuse as a consequence.

Rescuing migrants in the Mediterranean is a messy business. Countries such as Italy do not want to see people die at sea at the hands of neglectful smugglers, but they also have trouble dealing with the influx of migrants at home. Charities want to help people who are taken advantage of and help them to a better life; but oftentimes these organizations are not always supported. This difficult task does not seem to let up any time soon, and could possibly get worse.

A combined effort is needed to protect people. More should be done to lessen the need for people to flee from their homes, and governments need to step up to protect the human rights of those in need — especially to save helpless children at sea.

– Nick DeMarco
Photo: Flickr

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10 Facts About Poverty in Istanbul

10 Facts About Poverty in Istanbul Turkey plays an important role geopolitically, and its most important city, Istanbul, bears the majority of that burden. The government in the only city that spans two continents is currently going through significant changes. Addressing poverty in Istanbul is now at the top of the to-do list. Below are 10 facts about poverty in Istanbul that will illuminate some of the issues that plague the region and megacities across the world, and will provide some insight into the best ways of tackling them.

Facts About Poverty in Istanbul

  1. The number of people living below the poverty line in Istanbul has never been smaller. Over the past 10 years, the share of the population living on less than $4 a day has fallen from more than 20 million to just 1.7 million.
  2. The expanding difference between the rich and poor is a global issue and is one of the most commonly referenced facts about poverty in Istanbul. The Ministry of Development released data indicating that while the wealthiest 20 percent used to make 9.59 times what the poorest 20 percent did, that number has fallen to 7.96. This shows that poverty in Istanbul is being addressed by the shrinking the number of impoverished people and by closing the gap between the rich and poor.
  3. The lack of urban planning has perpetuated the realities of many facts about poverty in Istanbul. Much of Istanbul’s impoverished population resides in shanty towns, or gecekondu. More than 70 percent of the city’s housing has been built in the past 30 years. Over the same period, the population more than doubled. This has created problems with development as the government razes these properties to give way to larger projects, causing many forced evictions of the city’s most vulnerable populations.
  4. While poverty in Istanbul is a major concern, the city is doing much better than the rest of the country. This is problematic for the nation as a whole, as Istanbul residents on average make almost three times more than citizens in the more impoverished southeastern region.
  5. A significant cause for concern illustrated by these facts about poverty in Istanbul are the more than 500,000 Syrian refugees that call Istanbul home. To help reduce poverty among the refugees, Turkey has allowed them to live and work where they please, rather than being subjected to the often brutal conditions of refugee camps. Syrians can move freely throughout the city, and municipal governments have built schools that follow a Syrian curriculum, soup kitchens and even Beyaz Masalar, which are community centers that provide a venue for the Syrians to voice their needs and concerns.
  6. All is not great for children in Istanbul, however. More than 40,000 children are forced to work on the streets, many of whom are migrant children.
  7. Turkey’s football clubs are helping. Partnered with the UNDP, one of Turkey’s most famous football clubs, Galatasaray, pledged to raise funds for programs that fight poverty, inequality and exclusion.
  8. The country is tackling illiteracy as a way to bridge the gap. Literacy has been an important issue in Turkey since its modern inception in 1928. Nationwide. more than 3.8 million Turks cannot read or write. To address this issue, the organization ACEV started in Istanbul with three principles: “ (1) Equal opportunity in education for all; (2) Learning is a lifelong process that must begin in early childhood; (3) The child, as well as his or her immediate caregivers, must be educated and supported.” More than 125,000 people have learned to read with the assistance of this program.
  9. The government sponsors women’s literacy programs to address gender inequality. Access to education for women has long been an issue for Turkey. According to UNESCO, 9.7 percent of women could not read in 2014, compared to just 2.1 percent of men. As a result, President Erdogan and his wife Emine launched a female literacy campaign with the hopes of giving women greater access to the professional market, as well as providing greater independence throughout their everyday lives.
  10. When analyzing poverty in Turkey as a whole, poverty in Istanbul serves as a microcosm. Statistics regarding inclusion (or lack thereof) of minorities, women and immigrants mirror the rest of the country. However, the city and its superior economic resources and infrastructure provide a model that other cities can use when they look to address their poverty issues.

The economic situation for Turkey has been improving, but factors like the refugee crisis and urban-rural divide complicate it. Still, despite political tension within its borders, both sides of the aisle are putting a significant focus on the impoverished, citizen or not. Hopefully, countries in similar situations can look to Turkey and its handling of Istanbul as a model for poverty reduction.

– David Jaques

Photo: Google

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10 Facts About Poverty in Syria 

facts about poverty in Syria
Since the beginning of the crisis in 2011, poverty in Syria has dramatically increased due to violence and a collapsed economy. Below are 10 facts about poverty in Syria.

  1. Before the crisis, Syria was a middle-income country. Now, more than 80 percent of people are living in poverty, perhaps the most severe of these facts about poverty in Syria. Within Syria’s shattered economy, 70 percent of people lack regular access to clean water and 95 percent lack satisfactory healthcare. From 2011 to 2016, cumulative GDP loss is estimated at $226 billion.
  2. Since the war began, an estimated 470,000 people have been killed. Of those, 55,000 have been children. Since foreign powers have joined the conflict, the war has become even deadlier.
  3. Before the civil war, Syria was polio-free. However, in 2017, 74 cases of polio were detected.
  4. Since December 2017, an estimated 212,000 people have fled their homes. Most displaced people are living with insufficient access to aid in makeshift shelters. Eastern Ghouta, near Damascus, is a particular area of intense fighting unreached by aid. In total since the beginning of the crisis, more than 11 million Syrians have fled their homes to other Syrian cities or to neighboring countries.
  5. Turkey currently hosts the highest number of Syrian refugees at 3.5 million. However, 90 percent of them in Turkey live outside of aid camps and have limited access to basic services.
  6. Children lack educational opportunities and the war has reversed two decades of education progress. More than two million Syrian children are no longer in school. One-third of schools are not in use due to damage.
  7. Children are often seen as a nation’s hope for a better future, but these children have undergone high amounts of stress through having lost loved ones, suffering injuries, missing years of schooling, and experiencing violence and brutality. In addition, children are particularly vulnerable to health risks, abuse or exploitation. Many are drafted into the war or captured on the long trips they must make to safety.
  8. The war has destroyed Syria’s agricultural infrastructure and irrigation systems resulting in decreased food production. Wheat has dramatically suffered from both conflict and low rainfall. Since 2010, the overall food production in Syria has dropped by 40 percent.
  9. Since the beginning of the crisis in 2011, Syrian humanitarian needs have increased twelve-fold. An estimated 13.1 million people are in need, and close to three million people are trapped in besieged and hard-to-reach areas. Of these, more than 90 percent are in Eastern Ghouta.
  10. Charity organizations across the globe are working to help the millions of Syrians affected by the war. Five of the top charity groups are UNICEF, Save The Children, Syrian American Medical Society, The White Helmets and International Rescue Committee.

These facts about poverty in Syria illustrate the need for more help. Humanitarian organizations are struggling to meet the needs that continue to grow. In 2017, $4.6 billion was required to give emergency support and stabilization to families throughout the region. Only half was received. To build resilience against poverty in Syria and to increase peaceful communities, it is essential to increase funding.

– Anne-Marie Maher

Photo: Flickr

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What You Might Not Know: Facts About Refugees

The recent use of chemical weapons in Syria has once again brought attention to the country and its citizens, those remaining within Syrian territory and facts about refugees who have been forced to flee. The conflict in Syria has created an unprecedented amount of refugees, the largest number on record. The United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees defines a refugee as “any person forced to flee from their country by violence or persecution.”

The journey of the refugee is riddled with uncertainty. The person is forced to leave their home and become an asylum seeker. The asylum seeker enters a foreign state in search of refugee status. For many asylum seekers, the journey is perilous. Traditional and safe forms of transportation across state boundaries are rare. For Syrians hoping to make landfall in Europe or Libya, options were limited and sea voyages were often part of the journey.

The lack of adequate vessels and safety equipment led gave way to unfortunately high mortality rates on the sea. The images emerging from the shores of Greece, Turkey and Libya capture the dire situation under which this journey was made. Major media outlets have published images showing refugees tired, distressed or worse. What is missing from this seemingly hopeless narrative are the rights guaranteed to these people as global citizens.

Refugees are entitled to certain rights. These persons are entitled to security, are not to be involuntarily returned to the country from which they are fleeing and should receive the same rights as other foreign nationals. Often, the influx of large quantities of people into already fragile economies creates an environment that does not allow the refugee the living conditions and opportunities for education, work and healthcare that are called for by human rights standards.

Often the very meaning of the word refugee is misunderstood. Surrounding the issue of displaced persons are numerous misconceptions and the facts are lost in assumptions. In hopes of clarity and dissuading any misconceptions about who refugees are, here are some facts about refugees:

Facts About Refugees

  • Around 65 million people are displaced currently; this number accounts for refugees living inside and outside the country where they are facing persecution.
  • More than half of refugees are produced by only three countries: Syria, Afghanistan and South Sudan.
  • More than half of the refugees around the world are under the age of 18. These children are five times less likely to be enrolled in school.
  • Lack of economic opportunity and poverty do not qualify a person as a refugee.
  • Refugee crises are far-reaching and impact almost every continent. The Middle East and North Africa is not the only region impacted by refugees.
  • The average length of displacement is more than 10 years.
  • Being granted asylum in a state does not guarantee resettlement in that state.
  • In 2016, 189,900 refugees were resettled, compared to the 22.5 million refugees that were living outside their home country.
  • African and Middle Eastern countries host more than half of all current refugees. European countries and the Americas account for a little more than 30 percent of refugees.
  • The United States accepted the largest amount of refugees in its modern history in 1980.
  • The United States Refugee Admission Ceiling in FY 2016 was 85,000 persons.

The story of the refugee cannot be easily described through numbers and statistics. The larger narrative is more complex than can be easily summarized into key facts. The numbers neglect the individual experience of the refugee. These facts about refugees not do justice to the larger issue of statelessness but rather offer a snapshot of the problems facing displaced persons and the global community.

As these facts about refugees illustrate, refugees are often subjected to living in extreme poverty due to lack of resources available in camps and the slow, bureaucratic process of resettlement. These individuals lack access to adequate healthcare, education and opportunity for economic growth. Camps intended for emergency shelter become long-term solutions. There are many organizations doing incredible work to provide food, shelter and services to displaced persons.

– Madison Shea Lamanna

Photo: Flickr

Efforts to Expand Education for Syrian Refugees in Turkey

Education for Syrian Refugees in TurkeyTurkey is home to 833,039 Syrian school-aged children displaced by civil conflict. Since 2016, the Turkish government has worked to expand education for Syrian refugees in Turkey by integrating refugee children into the public school system. The initiative has some demonstrable success: there was a 25 percent increase in Turkish public school enrollment by refugee children in the 2017 school year.

Of the school-aged Syrian refugees living in Turkey, 612,603 were enrolled in either Turkish public school or temporary education centers as of October 2017. The Turkish government plans to close temporary education centers by the end of 2018. Approximately 300,000 refugee children attending these centers will be transferred to public schools and will transition to a Turkish-language curriculum. Another 360,000 refugee students who are not currently enrolled will also be sent to public school.

The Current Situation

For the first time since the policy was announced, more refugee school-aged children are enrolled in the Turkish public school system, at 59 percent, than in temporary education centers, 41 percent. The Turkish government plans to close all temporary education centers by the end of the year.

Temporary education centers teach an accredited curriculum in Arabic. For the past seven years, these facilities have provided education for Syrian refugees in Turkey in their mother tongue. However, these centers have been criticized for fostering cultural and linguistic separation between refugees and natives.

What Must Still Be Done

To accommodate the influx of students, the Turkish government is building 150 new schools with donated funds. However, this new construction will not adequately incorporate matriculating refugees from temporary education centers and additional funding is still needed.

Currently, the Ministry of National Education is adjusting to the increased number of students attending public school by sending some Syrian children to imam-hatip schools. Imam-hatip schools teach religious texts alongside other curriculum.

Critics of the new policy worry that Syrian students will drop out of school rather than attend Turkish-language public schools. Cultural tensions between Turkish and Syrian students, aggravated by resource shortages in public schools, could create hostile learning environments for Syrian children.

Working Toward Education for Syrian Refugees in Turkey

To mitigate the risk, the Ministry of National Education has declared that kindergarten and primary school are compulsory for all Syrian children. The government plans to enroll refugee children in intensive Turkish language courses to help students adjust to a Turkish curriculum. Also, refugee children will be offered additional classes on Arabic language and culture to help Syrian students stay connected to their heritage.

Additionally, to encourage older refugee children to stay in school, an E.U. program offers subsidies to Syrian schoolchildren. Subsidies are awarded to students who attend 80 percent of their classes and payments differ based on age and gender. Female high school students are entitled to the largest subsidies.

The Ministry of National Education’s public education initiative shows a real commitment to creating inclusive education for Syrian refugees in Turkey. Despite cultural and language barriers, more Syrian refugee children than ever before are enrolled in schools in Turkey.

– Katherine Parks

Photo: Flickr

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Struggle and Sanctuary: How the Media Misrepresents Burundi


The general public is unable to form any positive conclusions from media sources due to how the media misrepresents Burundi. Through closer analysis, however, the public may see a shimmer of hope behind all the destruction that the media portrays is occurring in Burundi.

How Does the Media Portray Burundi?

The media portrays Burundi as economically unstable; however, this fact is only partially true. Population growth in Burundi continues to rapidly increase, leaving the nation fighting to support their growing nation.

Burundi’s economy is lacking in their growth rate with the population growth rate at 3.1 percent annually, and the GDP per capita not growing more than 1.5 percent even in the best of recent years. Because of these economic difficulties the country has endured, Burundi’s economy relies 49 percent on international financial aid.

International Aid

The media states that Western donors are in the process of cutting support towards Burundi, pushing the nation even more towards intolerable levels of poverty; however, in the past three years alone, the United States has donated over $135 million in foreign aid towards the country of Burundi.

Other organizations such as the World Bank pledged $440 million towards helping the country’s financial crisis, and the EU has already made firm commitments towards achieving this goal. Overall, donors have pledged over $2 billion for Burundi’s development strategy in order to rebuild the nation after its civil war and national political crises.

Internal Controversy

How the media misrepresents Burundi can also be seen in the violence occurring in the country due to political turmoil. Burundi’s president, Pierre Nkurunziza, who has been in office since 2005, released a referendum date for May 17 for a controversial constitutional reform. If this reform is passed, it would allow President Nkurunziza to remain in power until 2034 — an unjust situation that would cause public uproar.

The violence has increased to such a degree that the U.S. State Department has warned Americans not to travel to Burundi, and that Burundi citizens are trained to promote violence and on the path towards another civil war. However, this media representation fails to mention measures taken within the nation to ensure the people of Burundi have alternative methods to violence.

New Generation

Diedonné Nahimana, an award-winning Burundi citizen, created the program of New Generation in Bujumbura to coach victims of war to become ambassadors for peace. New Generation was created to provide victims or orphans of war with alternative opportunities for a successful life rather than turning to violence.

This program develops a new generation of leaders who will restore Burundi after their 12-year civil war, and hopefully prevent the return of war. The foundation of their teaching is based upon non-violence as in the steps of Ghandi and Martin Luther King Jr.

The dream is that by 2020, this new generation will control leadership positions in the country and teach this method of non-violence to others and ensure peace in the country. Due to all of this violence, more than a quarter of a million people have Burundi in terror, seeking refuge in other countries.

Global Priority

Despite this, sources claim that the world doesn’t seem to notice this violence occurring in Burundi and thus serve as another example of how the media misrepresents Burundi.

The people of Burundi are under constant persecution and live in terror in their country due to the political crises and increased poverty conditions; however, it is not the case that the world has turned their back on this African country. Since 2015, over 300,000 people have fled the country of Burundi, many to refugee camps in neighboring African countries where unfortunately, persecution and inhumane actions still exist.

Struggle and Sanctuary

Other countries, such as Canada, have developed methods to ensure Burundi refugees are welcome in their countries. Canada has designated refugee claims from Burundi which welcomes refugees into their country. In fact, Canada proudly holds a Burundian community of roughly 10,000 and continues to allow refugees inside its borders. The United States has also welcomed over 2,000 Burundian refugees in the past two years and the numbers increase daily.

Although Burundi endures many hardships from political crises, poverty and population growth, there is more good occurring in the country than what the media showcases to the public.

– Adrienne Tauscheck

Photo: Flickr