REFUGEES

Croatian Goran Blažević began a journey for drawing attention to the problems of the refugees. In this 5-month journey from Jordan to his homeland, Blažević follows the route that refugees use for going to Europe. Blažević is in Turkey in these days.

Amnesty International released a report assessing the global refugee crisis. Titled as “Tackling the Global Refugee Crisis from Shirking to Sharing”, the report summarizes the severity of the global refugee crisis. The report includes situation analyses of different regions and points out developed countries' failure in sharing responsibility. Amnesty International also provides some proposals for resolving this crisis.

We talked to Syrian immigrants with different professions about the debate on Turkish citizenship. They all want to acquire Turkish citizenship because it would make their lives easier. However, they don't know whether they comply with the criteria of "being a useful and qualified person", declared by President Erdoğan. They are also disturbed by the hate speech against them.

On June 23, the UK held a long-anticipated referendum on its EU membership. The results anticipate Britain exiting the EU within a few years.

According to the violation of rights report released by Diyarbakir Bar Association, Yazidis who ran away from Sinjar and took shelter in Turkey cannot benefit from free health care service, though they have refugee status.

Germany Parliament (Bundestag) is discussing the Armenian Genocide motion.

NGOs working on refugees released a press statement about Aşkale Repatriation Center, where the refugees are completely isolated. NGOs made a call to Turkey's Directorate of General of Migration Management for stopping treating the refugees as criminals and providing them the right to access justice.

Berge Arabian was on Mytlini and spent a day with the refugees there. He wrote and photographed their hopes, dreams and fears.

Working on the Christians in Turkey and Middle East, journalist and historian Sebastien de Courtois was in İstanbul to attend “Minorities in Middle East: A Tough Future” conference that was held in French Cultural Center on October 9. We talked to Courtois about the Shingal exile, refugees’ condition in France and the ancient minorities of Middle East.