Muberra Nur EminAbsract :The Syrian Civil War began in March 2011, and has turned into a humanitarian crisis, with more devastation in every subsequent year. The hopelessness engendered by these clashes and the failure to find a solution has led to migration flows on a scale not seen since the Second World War to countries in Syria’s neighborhood and to Europe. While the heavy responsibility brought about by the needs of these Syrians has been met with a barbed-wire fenced “closed door” attitude by Western countries, Turkey has met this crisis with an “open door” policy despite hard times, and has come to host nearly 3 million Syrians, half of whom are known to be children or young people. In addition to primary needs such as security, shelter, and nutrition, Syrian refugees are also in need of education. In order to prevent Syrian children and youth from becoming a “lost generation,” it is vital to assess and address the Syrians’ need for access to quality education in Turkey.
Syrian refugees, who have now been in Turkey for around five years due to the continuation of the war in Syria and the almost total destruction of anywhere livable in the country, will not return home for a long time yet. According to May 5, 2016 data from the Directorate General of Migration Management (GİGM), the Syrian population in Turkey has risen from 14,000 in 2012 to almost 3 million—2,749,000—in 2016 (Figure 1). Of these, 264,000 are in 26 shelter centers established in 10 provinces by the Turkish Prime Ministry Disaster and Emergency Management Authority (AFAD), while the remaining 2,484,000 live outside the camps. Consequently, this population are heavily concentrated in city centers outside the camps.