On World Radio Day, JHR is proud to share a powerful success story emerging from our work with Radio Nasaeem in Turkey: the establishment of a first-of-its-kind refugee and migrant rights centre by the Turkish Bar Association that will pursue legal cases for Syrians and organize research, awareness-building and training activities for the protection of refugee and migrant rights.
The centre came about as a result of a Radio Nasaeem episode on the lack of knowledge about Turkish laws and judicial processes among Syrian refugees. This leaves them vulnerable to gender-based violence (GBV), hate speech, and racist attacks. The show was planned as part of Radio Nasaeem’s 16 Days of Activism Against GBV activities in December.
In the days following the show, Radio Nasaeem, supported by JHR, invited numerous activists and lawyers to brainstorm solutions to this issue. The Turkish Bar Association was among those asked to weigh in. During these discussions, the Turkish Bar Association agreed to establish the refugee and migrant rights center.
On January 10, Radio Nasaeem hosted Mahmud Isal of the Turkish Bar Association and Prof. Taha Al-Ghazi who served as coordinator on behalf of Syrians to discuss this welcome initiative. Watch it here [in Arabic].
JHR and Radio Nasaeem have been partnered since 2017 when we first began training Syrian journalists to cover human rights issues within their community. Since 2019, we have been working closely on the Canada World project to strengthen women and girls’ rights. In 2021, we worked together to deliver another powerful outcome for Syrians in Turkey: the reversal of the Turkish government’s decision to fire 12,000 Syrians teachers. Our collaboration with Radio Nasaeem proves the immense potential of digital radio to provide a collaborative platform that represents diverse perspectives and unites them to work for the common good.