Refugee Rights Turkey (RRT) launches new project on unaccompanied minors (UMs) with the support of the Embassy of Switzerland in Ankara. The project aims to strengthen awareness and sensitivity for UMs in Turkey and contribute to national policy making in this field.
The public awareness component of the project will see RRT generate a publication to channel the experiences and desires of unaccompanied minor asylum seekers (UMAs) in Turkey “in their own voices” as a vehicle for self-expression, among other activities aiming to elevate public concern and support for child protection challenges within Turkey’s increasingly multifaceted national migration debate. The policy component of the project envisions study visits to selected European countries to draw from approaches and experiences in protection of UMAs with a view to channeling perspectives to the evolving policy discussion on UMAa among refugee protection stakeholders in Turkey.
As the asylum and migration flows into Turkey grew historically over the past 5 years, there has also been a significant spike in the number of unaccompanied minors and separated refugee children arriving in Turkey as an element of these complex migration flows. Unaccompanied minors and separated refugee children identified by Turkish authorities are placed and looked after in state shelter under the authority of the Ministry of Family and Social Policy.
For many years RRT has been extending a range of legal information and assistance services to support the identification and legal protection of unaccompanied minor asylum seekers in Turkey. RRT’s comprehensive report on the issue published back in 2010 can be accessed here: