In 2015, participatory assessments were held in 8 cities (Van, Erzurum, Konya, Kayseri, Istanbul, Hatay, Gaziantep and Sanliurfa) with urban refugee and asylum seekers between 9 – 19 March 2015. Assessments were conducted by multi-functional teams composed of protection and programme staff of UNHCR Turkey as well as UNHCR’s implementing partners (ASAM, HRDF, STL and ). Focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews and in-depth interviews were main participatory assessment tools utilized during the practice. Refugees and asylum seekers from different age and gender groups, different educational and professional backgrounds, different special needs and with different duration of stay in Turkey were selected to participate to the exercise to get a wider perspective on the protection risks faced and their coping mechanisms. This report aims to summarize and analyze the findings of the exercise held in 8 cities with policy and program recommendations.

This report is based on a 20-day rapid assessment by a multidisciplinary Arabic- and Turkish-speaking team of Human Rights, Middle East Studies, and International Higher Education experts who travelled to Turkey in June and July2014. The research team spoke with close to 100 Syrian university-age students and more than a dozen Syrian university professionals, meeting in 17 focus groups in five cities with large Syrian populations: metropolitan Istanbul and Ankara in the west; and Gaziantep, Antakya, and Reyhanlı in southeastern Turkey.

In 2015, participatory assessments were held in 8 cities (Van, Erzurum, Konya, Kayseri, Istanbul, Hatay, Gaziantep and Sanliurfa) with urban refugee and asylum seekers between 9 – 19 March 2015. Assessments were conducted by multi-functional teams composed of protection and programme staff of UNHCR Turkey as well as UNHCR’s implementing partners (ASAM, HRDF, STL and ). Focus group discussions, semi-structured interviews and in-depth interviews were main participatory assessment tools utilized during the practice. Refugees and asylum seekers from different age and gender groups, different educational and professional backgrounds, different special needs and with different duration of stay in Turkey were selected to participate to the exercise to get a wider perspective on the protection risks faced and their coping mechanisms. This report aims to summarize and analyze the findings of the exercise held in 8 cities with policy and program recommendations.

This report is based on a 20-day rapid assessment by a multidisciplinary Arabic- and Turkish-speaking team of Human Rights, Middle East Studies, and International Higher Education experts who travelled to Turkey in June and July2014. The research team spoke with close to 100 Syrian university-age students and more than a dozen Syrian university professionals, meeting in 17 focus groups in five cities with large Syrian populations: metropolitan Istanbul and Ankara in the west; and Gaziantep, Antakya, and Reyhanlı in southeastern Turkey.