Stichting 3R

Helsinki Citizens' Assembly improved Refugee Voices

An estimated 100,000 people from 40 countries cross the Turkish border without identity papers every year. They come from trouble spots like Iraq, Somalia and Afghanistan, and because they cannot be granted asylum in Turkey they are in a highly vulnerable situation.

The Turkish NGO Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly is trying to safeguard their rights, offering them such things as legal counseling and information. The organization is also trying to influence public opinion and to spotlight the refugees’ difficult situation.

One way of reaching other organizations, government agencies and the general public is via the journal Refugee Voices, in which people tell what life as a refugee is like in Turkey. The journal appears only sporadically because it cannot always afford the printing costs.

With a view to improving the journal’s design and publishing approach, Daniel Urey, and Erik Engren from International Media Network Services, have been cooperating with the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly.

Refugee Voices – behind the scenes

A group of young refugees who arrived in Turkey unaccompanied have also taken part in the work. They began by joining workshops focusing both on the Convention on the Rights of the Child and on perceptions of human rights in Turkey, and have subsequently been involved in the magazine work.

“These young people haven’t simply been interviewees – they have been behind the camera and produced material,” Urey says. “They’ve been incredibly dedicated and it’s been great to see how keen they’ve been to express themselves.”

As a result of the project the last issue of  “Refugee Voices” can now be downloaded as a PDF file with both text and moving images.”