Conditions of Syrian asylum seeker students in a Turkish university

ABSTRACT

In this study, the conditions of the Syrian asylum seeker students in Turkish universities were addressed and discussed. This study was conducted by adopting a phenomenological approach from qualitative research methods. In this regard, interviews were held with fifteen Syrian asylum seeker students continuing their education in various departments of Kahramanmaras Sutcu Imam University, a state university in Turkey. A semi-structured interview form developed by the researchers of this study was used for collecting data. In line with the examinations, important findings such as identity and citizenship crisis–which means being the others- and psychological problems caused by war and migration, desire to migrate to Europe were obtained. In addition to the basic needs of the Syrian asylum seeker students, such as nutrition, and sleep, there are also various problems in important areas such as economic conditions, transportation, legislation, social inclusion and support, Turkish language and academic opportunities. It was determined that these conditions may cause unwanted/unexpected situations such as early marriage, human trafficking, school dropouts, and crime.

KEYWORDS:

• Syrian asylum seeker
• Turkey
• education
• university
• phenomenology

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.