Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Health Sciences Social Work Department hosted Assistant General Coordinator of the Refugee Association, Fatih Gökyıldız, as a guest for the “Social Services with Immigrants: The Refugee Association Example” program. Gökyıldız noted a significant increase in the number of refugees in Turkey, especially with the arrival of immigrants from Syria, and stated that they provide support to children experiencing language barrier issues.
“Our aim is to ensure sociological balance”
The opportunities provided to refugees were discussed in the program moderated by Üsküdar Üniversitesi Faculty of Health Sciences Social Work Department lecturer Prof. Dr. Abdullah Karatay.
Gökyıldız shared insights into the association's founding purpose and activities: “The Refugee Association was established on December 8, 2014. The aim was to create a structure that would meet the needs of refugees. Currently, we provide services under 24 headings and continue to add new headings to the service delivery process. The last heading we added was the career center. The structure we have created is a social one that will serve refugees and meet all their comprehensive needs. However, our goal is not only for refugees but also to create a structure where we can solve the problems and meet the needs of citizens residing here. In this way, we aim to ensure sociological balance.” he said.
“There has been an increase in refugee numbers in Turkey”
Gökyıldız drew attention to the increasing number of refugees in Turkey: “There has been a significant increase in the number of refugees in Turkey, especially with the arrival of immigrants from Syria. This number continues to rise, albeit slightly. Different groups have arrived since then. The number of Afghan groups, in particular, has increased considerably. In the Anatolian side of Istanbul, Sultanbeyli is where the majority of refugees reside.” he stated.
“We provide supplementary education to our children facing language barrier issues”
Gökyıldız stated that as an association, they provide support to children experiencing language barrier issues and also touched upon women's guesthouses: “Through the association, the proficiency levels of children experiencing peer bullying or deficiencies in their lessons due to language barriers are improved. We conduct visits at regular intervals in all 55 schools and monitor the children there. Children experiencing deficiencies due to language barriers are reported to the children's education centers building, and supplementary lessons are provided for those children. At this stage, it aims to prevent the child from feeling psychologically distressed and also to ensure a certain flow in the classroom. Our work continued in this way before the pandemic, but after the pandemic, we had to shift to online. Our psychological counseling and guidance efforts are still ongoing. We also have a women's guesthouse. Women of different nationalities who have lost their spouses in war, whose spouses have passed away later, or who have no one, can come and stay there with their children. Of course, there are certain procedures.” he explained.