‘Forum Against Borders for Refugees and Asylum Seekers’

Within the scope of the 7^th International Meeting Against Homophobia (HKB), the “Forum Against Borders for refugees and asylum seekers” was held on Friday May 11^th at Ankara University’s Faculty of Political Science.  

 

Dr. Kerem Altıparmak, associate professor of the Center for Human Rights (SBF) moderated the forum, which counted with the participation of Prof. Dr. H. Neşe Özgen from Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, Ufuk Ahıska from the

Immigrant Solidarity Network, Doç. Dr. Sema Buz from the department of Social Services at the Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences of Hacettepe University, and Pırıl Erçoban from the Association for Solidarity with Refugees.

 

Dr. Buz’s presentation was entitled "Influences of Border Politics on Daily Lives of Immigrants and Refugees", which according to her can be defined as separating and isolating policies. “The legal structure of these policies prevent people from crossing the border, benefit from the social welfare system, and therefore forcing refugees to go back”, she stated. Additionally, she highlighted the fact that the issue of women refugees should be analyzed separately because their gender identity gives them unique and additional challenges.

 

Ufuk Ahıska’s presentation from the Immigrant Solidarity Network was titled "A free world without borders or proscription, national borders surrounding immigrants, alternative places –Solidarity Kitchen Experiences of Immigrants”. He stated that out of the almost 24,000 officially registered refugees in Turkey, most of them experience the same kind of problems regardless of their reason for asylum-seeking.

 

The last session was in charge of Pırıl Erçoban from the Association for Solidarity with Refugees. According to her, "the law for foreigners and international protection can provide a solution to the many problems experienced by these migrants. Although the law could not solve all of the existing refugee problems, at least it would create a certain standard for their protection”.