Press Release
Armenian Patriarchate
TR-34130 Kumkapi, Istanbul
Contact: Ms. Luiz Bakar
GSM: +90-533-516-2212
T: +90-212-517-0970 0r 71
F: +90-212-516-4833
E-mail: patriarchate@post.com
His Beatitude Mesrob II, Armenian Patriarch of Istanbul and all Turkey,
has
appointed Ms. Rosette Ergunes as the representative of the Armenian
Patriarchal See to the Istanbul Interparish Migrants’ Programme.
Forced migrants, asylum seekers and refugees find Istanbul a very harsh
and,
on occasion, life threatening place to be. Istanbul Interparish
Migrants’
Programme follows and reports on the social and legal struggles of the
poorest foreigners in Turkey, and offers emergency assistance to the
most
impoverished.
Every year the demographics of the people the IIMP serves changes due
to
political and economic reasons beyond their control, and to the changes
in
patterns of illegal travelling possibilities, smuggling routes and
trafficking networks. Continuing situations of crisis in the Middle
East,
Far East and North, East and West Africa, especially in Congo, Cote D’
Ivoire, Somalia and Sudan have forced millions of people from their
homes.
Networks of smugglers help young East African women to escape from
forced
labor and trafficking situations in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
Container
ships daily leave men, women and children on the shores of Turkey.
There are no credible estimates of numbers of forced migrants arriving,
residing in or departing from Istanbul annually, but experience has
shown
that hundreds of thousands of people, and perhaps millions spend some
part
of their migration journey in Istanbul each year. A very small
percentage
of these stay more than a year and only a small minority settle here
permanently.
The Turkish State issues temporary residence status to asylum seekers
for
the duration of their refugee status determination process, and does
not
encourage integration even for recognized refugees. Asylum seekers and
migrants from most countries may not obtain work permits and are not
entitled to any form of social welfare, housing or free legal aid.
Opportunities for further travel are mainly illegal, even if the asylum
seeker or migrant wishes to return to their own country, as the Turkish
Government imposes harsh penalties on travelers who have overstayed
their
original visa or arrived in the country without one.
Only a few thousand asylum seekers will be recognized as refugees by
the
UNHCR or by third country humanitarian visa programs, and therefore
have the
opportunity leave the country legally.
2003 Context:
September 11th 2001, the Iraqi Crisis, European accession policy and
local
terrorism have all made an impact on IIMP’s work in the previous twelve
months. The Iraqi crisis has forced the UNHCR and other NGO’s to divert
resources and retrain staff, creating delays and removing the UNHCR
Field
Officer and Social Services Officer from Istanbul for long periods.
The 2001 Turkish economic crisis continues to effect the country. The
refugee community, needy and unprotected at the best of times, is the
first
to suffer in a more difficult economic situation.
The accession to the European Union dominated politics for most of the
year,
with a marked effect on migration now and in the future. IIMP will
consult
with and advise Turkish Lawyers during the preparation of draft laws
effecting migrants and asylum seekers in Turkey, and in the ongoing
extension of our Legal Counseling Program.
Program Summary:
Asylum seekers and migrants experience traumatic forced displacement
from
their homes and face culture shock in new places with no adequate
support
and rehabilitation. IIMP provides services that will help this
marginalized
community receive basic assistance.
IIMP assistance programs include:
1. Educational program for children
2. Adult literacy and language teaching program
3. Vocational skills training and employment opportunities
4. Soup kitchen that provides hot lunches
5. Used clothes, blankets and household item redistribution depots
6. Income Generating Projects that allow men and women to provide food
and
pay for accommodation for themselves and their families
7. Free access to primary healthcare consultation
8. Referral to hospital for subsidized emergency medical services
9. Legal counseling about UNHCR and Turkish asylum procedures
10. Resettlement counseling
11. Voluntary return program to the person’s country of origin
12. Limited emergency accommodation
13. Free interpreter and translation services for all of the above
programs
14. Research and internships
Program assets:
The churches provide the space for the office, the soup kitchen, the
income-generating project, the clinic, and the educational programmes.
The
churches provide the 40 voluntary staff, who supervise the
income-generating
projects, the school, the adult literacy program, the clothes depots
and the
clinic. The churches also provide most of the financial resources
required
to run the office and programs.
In Year 2003, IIMP received $80,231.39 in Income from its supporting
churches and international donor partners. In Year 2002, IIMP spent
$73,321.65.
To maintain the office (office rent and utilities), IIMP spent
$1,758.18.
Staff salaries including that of the coordinator, the admin assistant
and
the four translators cost IIMP $19,710.53 in Year 2002.
SUMMARY OF PROGRAMS:
All programs are offered free of charge to all migrants, regardless of
race
or religion, where no other alternative service exists for them.
Programs
are also designed in consultation with migrants and, where possible,
managed
entirely by migrant staff.
1. Educational programs for children
As the children of migrants, asylum seekers and refugees are not
allowed
access to Turkish State schools, IIMP attempts to provide primary
education
for every child that has no other alternative.
The Christ Church School caters for children aged 5-15 and educates
students
in English, mathematics, computers and biology, with music, sport and
art
lessons. Though the school is informal, it is essential and the twelve
voluntary teachers are qualified professionals from the expatriate
community. Twenty-three children were enrolled in the 2003/2004
academic
year. The school was administered by, funded and accommodated by
Christ
Church Anglican Church, Istanbul.
Thirty-five Somali children with no previous education were taught
literacy
and mathematics through Arabic, in a spontaneous migrant initiative.
Two
well-educated migrant women from Sudan volunteered to teach these
Somali
children, after they realized that the children had never had access to
any
form of education and that they were either separated from their
parents or
their parents had no writing skills. IIMP was able to raise some money
to
buy basic teaching equipment and to pay a small stipend to the two
teachers.
The Childrens’ Summer Project offered professional football coaching,
water-sports, art classes and educational and fun day trips to twenty
migrant children throughout the summer months.
The combined cost to IIMP of all of the above children’s activities was
$2,063.43
2. Adult literacy and language teaching program
IIMP’s Adult Educational Programme was further extended in 2003 and
provides
free literacy and language classes to approximately 50 students per
week in
Turkish, French and English. All migrants and asylum seekers find
linguistic barriers and many are illiterate in both their own language
and
the Latin alphabet. Some are highly educated in their own language,
but
still find themselves illiterate in Turkey. Christ Church and the
Union
Church provided the premises, professional teachers donate their time
and
expertise, and five jobs were created for migrants with relevant
qualifications.
The cost of this program in 2003 was $10,047.31.
3. Vocational skills training and employment opportunities
Computer literacy classes are offered to 16 students per week. Yagmur
Internet Café, Istanbul, donates the computers and on-line access. The
program is taught through English, French and Farsi, and employs
qualified
migrants to teach the courses.
Employment by the local churches and expatriate communities offers paid
vocational training in all aspects of construction and renovation work.
4. Soup kitchen
The Soup Kitchen provides hot meals and employment. In 2003, 4,500 hot
lunches were served and many food packages distributed. This program
has
been extended to serve a further 100 people per week, with the
generosity of
the Greek Patriarchate. It is envisioned that those who partake of the
hot
lunch will be better nourished as a result of the program. IIMP began
this
soup kitchen in response to the continuous and genuine concern of
hunger
expressed by those coming to our door, and would like to further extend
the
program to feed 300 people, seven days a week. In Year 2003, the soup
kitchen cost $5,431,62 to run.
5. Used clothes, blankets and household item redistribution depots
The Union Church and the German Protestant Church, redistributing used
clothes, household items and local donations, manage two Clothes
Depots.
These provide clothes, blankets, shoes, food packages and other
much-needed
items to asylum seekers, migrants, refugees who arrive without
possessions
and who are without other means to provide for themselves.
6. Income Generating Projects
This year the projects included glass painting, greeting card design
and
knitted items.
The aim is to provide a safe and non-exploitative workspace where men
and
women can come to make handicrafts of all sorts that are then sold at
local
international bazaars held throughout the year. All the money earned
from
the sales is equally distributed among the men and women involved in
the
project. It is envisioned that the project participants will be able to
use
these skills to provide food and pay for accommodation for themselves
and
their families. The income-generating project cost $492.79 to run for
a
period of five months.
7. Free access to primary healthcare consultation
Working with St. Benoit Clinic, St. Jorj Austrian Hospital and
volunteer
Doctors, we offer diagnosis, preventative advice, counseling,
nutritional
information and pre- and post-natal care. The children of migrants and
asylum seekers are also treated and may receive vital inoculations and
vaccinations. One day a week a doctor is available for free general
consultation and prescriptions, with the aims of preventing minor
ailments
from spreading or becoming more serious, and identifying critical need.
Volunteers from the international community visit, advise and translate
for
patients, especially for single mothers with their maternity and
post-natal
needs. Practical assistance is offered for the complicated paperwork
associated with registering the birth of a child whose parents have no
legal
status in Turkey.
8. Referral to hospital for subsidized emergency medical services
In 2003, IIMP assisted financially with many major emergency and life
saving
hospitalizations and operations. These included a pacemaker, a prostate
operation, multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, kidney dialysis, kidney
stones, a hernia operation, a severed artery, multiple fractures and
broken
limbs, removal of pre-cancerous ovarian cysts, breast cancer, double
pneumonia and an emergency caesarian section. Unfortunately the baby
died
and IIMP continued to help the mother with ongoing medical needs,
counseling
and the funeral expenses. A fourteen-month old Eritrean baby suffering
from
brain-stem encephalitis was also hospitalized for three months and
treated
with the help of IIMP. Other emergency treatment and preventative
measures
have been taken following the occurrence of contagious and infectious
diseases such as multi-drug resistant tuberculosis, malaria, AIDS, HIV,
scabies, smallpox and other viruses.
The medical program is funded by local and private donations and by
Caritas-Italiana. Asylum seekers, refugees and migrants are not
entitled to
any national healthcare scheme. In Year 2003, the program cost
$23,696.53.
7. Legal counseling about UNHCR and Turkish asylum procedures
The objectives of IIMP Legal Counseling Program are:
1. To provide a reliable source of credible information and to offer
legal
advice during the UNHCR Refugee status determination process
2. To advocate that the human rights of migrants, refugees and asylum
seekers in Turkey will be upheld on the basis of international refugee
and
human rights law
3. To alert the international community of violations of human rights
concerning migrants, refugees and asylum seekers
4. To educate
In 2003, IIMP provided counseling to over 600 individuals, produced
updated
information documents on asylum procedures and rights, and trained
local
community leaders and interpreters to distribute the information to
illiterate asylum seekers at a cost of $2,567.24.
8. Resettlement counseling
Typically, IIMP coordinates its resettlement effort with UNHCR
BO-Ankara
(United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – Branch Office).
UNHCR-BO
Ankara has great difficulty conducting resettlement for those
recognized
refugees who have legalized their status with Turkish authorities.
Those
who have not been able to legalize their status are frequently unable
to
obtain exit permissions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. IIMP,
upon
consultation with UNHCR-BO Ankara prepares applications to embassies
for
resettlement. IIMP then follows the case to its logical conclusion
with
regular contact with the embassies, providing additional information
and
interpreting if required and paying for train tickets to Ankara for
interviews. The receiving country and/or sponsors usually cover the
costs
of airline tickets, landing fees and visas.
If an IIMP client is not a Convention Refugee but has been deemed
eligible
for a humanitarian visa after exhaustive interviews, IIMP attempts to
find
sponsorship, completes immigration applications and follows the cases
to
their logical conclusion as identified above.
This process provides for a permanent solution for those refugees who
cannot
be assured of UNHCR’s resettlement assistance. It also provides for a
native-English speaker to help complete immigration forms and act as
liaison
with Embassy Immigration Sections.
9. Voluntary return program to the person’s country of origin
The Repatriation Program offers a means of returning home safely and in
dignity to migrants and asylum seekers from Africa, Asia and sometimes
the
Middle East. The program assists both individuals and small groups,
including victims of trafficking and those injured, or with other
imperative
reasons to return to their own country. For example trafficked women
from
East Africa escape to Turkey after lengthy periods of exploitative
working
conditions in the Middle East. They travel overland through dangerous
and
mined borders or by cargo-ship, seeking a destination offering more
realistic opportunities for life.
The Turkish police regularly conduct widespread raids in areas where
migrants are known to reside and detain these migrants in an effort to
crackdown on human smuggling. The majority are Africans and Asians and
once
detained, the Turkish police have no mechanism to deport them and must
release them onto the streets after a miserable stay at the detention
centres. Through an integrated approach, including direct counseling,
assistance with paperwork, emergency travel documents, return
transportation, information campaigns, the Program assists migrants to
travel and arrive home safely.
In the Year 2003, IIMP repatriated 16 persons at a cost of $3,735.00
COUNTRY MALE FEMALE Ethiopia 1 Ghana 1 Iran 1 3 Kenya 2 1 Sri Lanka 2 Madagascar 1 Sudan 1 1 Congo 2 Total 7 9
10. Limited emergency accommodation
Both male and female migrants often find themselves in extremely
vulnerable
and potentially life threatening situations in Istanbul. Rented
accommodation is relatively expensive and landlords frequently evict,
threaten or rape migrant and asylum seeker tenants. In times of
recuperation from serious illness, or in response to physical threat,
IIMP
attempts to find safe temporary refuge or accommodation for those
without
alternative.
11. Free interpreter and translation services for all of the above
programs
Asylum seekers, migrants and refugees very rarely speak Turkish or any
other
locally useful language. The difficulties they encounter in Turkey are
always exacerbated by their linguistic isolation. IIMP offers free
interpreter services for counseling and a variety of other needs, for
example, at hospitals, with essential paperwork, with landlords.
Multi-lingual interpreters from the various migrant groups are
employed,
which enables and encourages migrants to help and support each other.
Translation services in 2003 cost $3,089.31.
12. Research and Internships
Due to IIMP’s provision of services to such a vast range of
communities, it
has access to information about all aspects of migration in Turkey.
These
issues include: trafficking, smuggling, deportation, land minds,
forged
documents, police abuse and torture, detention conditions,
discrimination,
labour conditions including child labour, child soldiers, living
conditions,
domestic violence, reproductive health, communicable diseases, stress
and
trauma. This information has been shared with representatives from
international organizations, including Amnesty International, the
International Organization for Migration and Human Rights Watch, as
well as
Embassies, including the American, Canadian and British, and
faith-based
organizations, such as World Vision, and the Church World Service.
IIMP
continues to be available as a resource for researchers and
international
organizations.
IIMP also regularly employs interns, who provide volunteer assistance
and
bring back expertise about migrant communities in Turkey to their
sponsoring
institutions.
In addition to the above-mentioned programs, IIMP provided Emergency
Aid in
the form of bus tickets to UNHCR or Embassies in Ankara, food packages
and
blankets, and day work at a total cost of $2,122.66 in 2003.
IIMP Background:
Istanbul Interparish Migrants’ Programme was founded eleven years ago
to
offer social, medical and legal assistance to those without other
alternative. The founding and supporting churches and organizations
are:
Ecumenical Greek Patriarchate, Armenian Patriarchate, Union Church of
Istanbul, Christ Church Anglican Church, St. Georg Austrian Catholic
Church,
German Protestant Church, American Board of Mission (UCC) and
Caritas-Turkiye.
Since there is no provision under Turkish law to provide any
governmental
assistance to asylum seekers, migrants and refugees, IIMP seeks to
provide
this basic but comprehensive assistance until such time as these
individuals
find a permanent solution outside of Turkey. IIMP is one of two
organizations in Istanbul that provide such assistance, but the only
one
that does so for African, Iranian and Asian asylum seekers, refugees
and
migrants. The other organization, Caritas, provides assistance to
Iraqis.
In addition to all the other services and programs it provides (see
below),
IIMP is the one place in Istanbul where refugees, migrants and asylum
seekers receive assistance and compassionate but realistic advice.
Target Community:
At any given time, IIMP serves approximately 450 refugees, asylum
seekers
and migrants from 42 countries, but predominantly Burundi, Congo
(Zaire),
Iran, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Mauritania, Nigeria, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan,
and
Sri Lanka. Though many of our principal applicants are single men,
there
are a growing number of single women and families (average 5 persons).
It
is important to note that this is a constantly changing population due
to
economic and political realities that exist outside of Turkey. IIMP
believes that the local supporting churches also benefit from the
incredible
talents that this community offers.
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