* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Danish Refugee Council (DRC) is among the few agencies working in Hatay and Sanliurfa provinces in South/Southeast Turkey. Through funding from the Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO) and in close cooperation with local partners DRC is working to assist in the area currently hosting a refugee population of an estimated 160,000 refugees living outside of official refugee camps.
Turkey is hosting nearly 700,000 Syrian refugees (according to government estimates) and the majority is living outside of official refugee camps. Without access to the same level and range of services as refugees in formal camps, the population of refugees living outside camps is increasingly vulnerable, having exhausted their own resources.
“Though the government has invested massive resources in the nearly 3 years since the start of the Syrian crisis, more support is needed for the growing number of refugees living outside formal camps and the communities hosting them. Through our community centers, our local partners provide vital support, training and activities for Syrian refugees allowing them to cope with traumas of the past as well as prepare them for future challenges. At the same time, the centers provide a space for greater understanding and respect between refugees and local host communities – to promote intercultural interaction,” says DRC Country Director, Sarah Saleh.
The community centers offer a broad range of support, assistance and training – Turkish language, computer lessons as well as legal assistance, psycho-social support. For the youth, the daily football match with mixed teams from the host community and refugee population offers a chance for engagement and dialogue across different backgrounds. The children can play and learn in a safe environment with adult supervision and participate in activities such as singing, dancing and drawing.
“The community centers are truly multifunctional. They provide support, information and assistance but at the same time they provide a protective space offering a chance to identify, refer or respond directly to vulnerable cases,” says Sarah Saleh.
Syrian refugees have left devastated hometowns to save their lives but they still dream about returning to their former homes now contaminated with explosive remnants of war. Families and children in particular are exposed to the danger of explosive remnants of war.
“Risk Education is vital to avoid fatal encounters with unexploded ammunition in Syria. In cooperation with our local partner, we are therefore educating refugees on how to behave in contaminated areas. The Risk Education is designed to target children, youth and adults in a relevant way. Children might need a song to remember the essential messages while youth need practical rehearsal and adults dialogue, says Project Manager, Stina Björstedt.
“Risk Education must be flexible and we constantly evaluate our strategies. For instance it became clear that women where in many cases reluctant to participate in public sessions. We then moved the Risk Education to the homes of the refugee families which proved a great success – it is much easier to build trust in a homely environment and we have the chance to share a cup of local coffee or tea and get the informal dialogue as well – we learn a lot about the problems and potential of the communities and this information is vital when we design our programs of assistance,” Stina Björstedt says.
The European Commission’s Humanitarian Aid and Civil department protection (ECHO) is the largest donor supporting DRC efforts in southern/south-eastern Turkey. The implementing partners are Support to Life (STL) and International Middle East Research Center (IMPR). DRC is operational in Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Libya as well as Turkey and deliver emergency aid to half a million refugees and displaced every month. ECHO is funding DRC activities throughout the region.
