Workshop on Crossroads of Learning: Exploring the Intersection of Education, Migration, and Religion, Valletta, Malta, 3 - 04 March 2025
Since
the beginning of the Syrian civil war, the issue of migration has become an
important part of Turkish domestic and foreign policy. Türkiye has started to
implement a social integration policy for Turkish nationals and migrant groups
in line with EU migration policy. As a result, education policies at all
levels, including higher education have directly been affected by this process.
There is an increasing number of studies in the literature dealing with the
integration processes of refugee students in universities. Accordingly, this
study aims to contribute to the existing literature on the integration process
of refugee students who were forced to migrate to Türkiye. Through the case
study of students at Dokuz Eylül University, it also aims to contribute to the
exploration of the intersection between education, migration and religion and
to measure the bilateral perceptions, learning processes and interactions of the
university staff, local students and refugee students. The
research is based on the information and observations collected during the
activities organised within the "Leave No one Behind Project", which
took place in 2022 at Dokuz Eylül University in cooperation with UNHCR.
Besides, based on the results of the focus group interviews conducted in
separate sessions with Turkish and refugee students as part of the
corresponding project are also examined. The research suggests that the
problems arise at the intersection of education and religion and that the
prejudices can be eliminated by discovering the socio-cultural similarities as
a result of socialisation and the resolution of shared memories.