Kimse Yok Mu opens school for Syrian children

Turkey's UN-affiliated aid organization Kimse Yok Mu inaugurated a school in the northern Iraqi city of Arbil on Friday that will provide education to the children of Syrian refugees.

In accordance with a protocol signed between the Arbil Governorate and the aid organization in November, the school, which has 12 classrooms and 1,000 square meters of space, was built in the region of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) for refugees who fled Syria. The school will be administered under the Arbil Governorate, according to information obtained from the Ankara office of Kimse Yok Mu.

Kimse Yok Mu provided educational support for 1,150 Syrian children in Turkey during the 2013-14 academic year and continues to provide the students with school supplies.

The Turkish aid organization and the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) jointly initiated a financial assistance project in January whereby TL 3.5 million ($1.5 million) was distributed to 2,900 Syrian families -- or some 17,000 people -- most of whom are women and children who fled the civil war in Syria and sought refuge in Turkey.

The total amount of financial aid provided by Kimse Yok Mu to Syrian refugees is currently around TL 67 million.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) March 2014 report says women and children have suffered most from the turmoil in Syria. According to the report, 5.5 million children were affected by the crisis and 10,000 children lost their lives. The report also says 8,000 children reached the borders without their parents, while 3 million children currently do not have access to education.

In October, the Justice and Development Party (AK Party) government decided to revoke the charity's permission to collect donations for the remainder of this year. This was then followed by another decision to limit Kimse Yok Mu's right to collect donations by requiring permission from authorities in advance of fundraising efforts and blocking the organization's bank accounts.

Despite the latest step in the Turkish government's crackdown on Kimse Yok Mu, in which two banks blocked the organization's accounts, administrators for the charity have said they are still able to collect money through their other accounts.

Published on Cihan, 07 November 2014, Friday