Non-state actors and education as a humanitarian response: role of faith-based organizations in education for Syrian refugees in Turkey

Abstract

Abstract In the shadow of the Syrian conflict generating millions of displaced people, education provision for Syrian children has become one of the biggest challenges for Turkey. This paper sheds light on the role and rationale of faith-based humanitarian organizations in education provision for Syrian children in Turkey based on the interviews conducted with representatives of humanitarian organizations. The paper presents the wider socio-political context of Turkey to analyze the motivations of the Islamic humanitarian sector in exercising education facilities for a linguistically and culturally different population. In that context, this paper attempts to contribute to the fledgling literature on education as a humanitarian response from an institutional perspective.

Keywords

• Refugee education
• Faith-based organizations
• Turkey
• Syrian crisis
• Education in emergencies
• Humanitarian aid