Not left behind: Empowering refugees with disabilities in Türkiye

Challenges faced by refugees with disabilities in Türkiye

According to UNFPA, out of the four million refugees in Türkiye, there are 450,000 who live with disabilities.

Many of them either need medical care or equipment and face difficulties in accessing health care for various reasons such as the legal status.

Let us zoom into two cases to understand their challenges and why the interventions of the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) are crucial to overcoming them.

Bassel’s story

Bassel is a five-year-old Syrian child who loves to socialise with people. His smile and bubbly personality lift everyone’s spirits when he enters a room.

However, he cannot go outside to play or interact with his peers because of two significant health issues: he cannot hear, and he has a dislocated heart. After many health care facilities were destroyed or stopped functioning during the civil war, Bassel and his mother, Ayse, had to leave their home in Syria for Türkiye to seek treatment.

“I had no other choice,” she said.

Bassel and his family arrived in Hatay, Türkiye, in 2020. Since then, they have been unable to obtain Temporary Protection (TP) status as the granting of this status has practically ended.

The lack of TP status meant that they could face deportation and their access to essential medical services remained severely limited.

Programming to support refugees with disabilities in Türkiye

Supporting persons with disabilities is an essential aspect of DRC’s interventions. Funded by European Union, DRC provides legal counselling and assistance to refugees, offering information about available services and facilitating their access.

DRC's support aims to make meaningful and sustainable changes in refugees' lives, enabling individuals to support themselves without external help.

For refugees with disabilities, this includes helping them obtain TP status and critical documents such as the Disability Health Board Report.

While TP status recognises their right to stay in Türkiye and access public services, the Disability Health Board Report grants them access to disability-related benefits and services, including social assistance, healthcare, education, and employment opportunities tailored to their needs.

Among these is gaining priority access to the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN), an EU-funded cash assistance programme supporting refugees in vulnerable situations in Türkiye.

Actions taken

DRC raised the case of Asma and her family to the local authorities, emphasising that education is the right of every child regardless of their status or nationality. The team succeeded in enrolling two of her children, Rimas and Mohammad, at the special educational centre by helping them obtain disability reports and advocating at the case level.

This vital intervention of advocating for the children at the case level is now what allows them to benefit from learning opportunities at a critical age. In addition, the team also referred the case to another humanitarian organisation that provided hearing aids and accompanied the children during the fitting process. For the first time in their lives, the children could hear sounds.

They were amazed by the chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves, sounds they had never known existed, and they were overjoyed to finally hear their parents' voices.

For Bassel and his family, DRC helped them secure Temporary Protection (TP) status after a long wait of three years. The achievement was almost unbelievable for Ayse, his mother.

Having protection status has not only secured their right to stay but also allowed them to access public hospitals, which are the only institutions that can issue a disability report.

As a result, Bassel has already obtained his disability report and is now receiving treatment for his conditions.

Ensuring no one is left behind

Individuals like Bassel and Asma’s children represent the urgent need for comprehensive support and advocacy. Without the interventions of organisations like DRC, these refugees would face insurmountable barriers to accessing protection and essential services such as healthcare and education.

By providing legal counselling, securing critical documentation, and facilitating access to specialised services, DRC ensures that refugees with disabilities are not left behind.

These cases also underscore the critical importance of sustained international support for refugees with disabilities. DRC interventions enable refugees with disabilities to access vital resources and opportunities, fostering a sense of dignity and inclusion.

It is imperative that we continue to support and expand such programmes to ensure that all refugees, regardless of their physical or legal status, can lead fulfilling lives and contribute to their communities. 

• The protection projects were cofounded by the European Union through its Humanitarian Aid (ECHO) and the International Orthodox Christian Charities (IOCC).