IBC will collaborate with Afghan Refugee Solidarity Association, Afghanistan Hazaras Culture and Solidarity Association to increase Afghan relief efforts in Turkey

Friday, August 27th, 2021

International Blue Crescent Relief and Development Foundation (IBC) will collaborate with the Afghan Refugee Solidarity Association and the Afghanistan Hazaras Culture and Solidarity Association to increase relief efforts for Afghans in Turkey.

Afghan Refugee Solidarity Association (ARSA) began volunteer activities for refugees in 2009 and formally registered as an NGO in Turkey in 2014. They have been providing social, legal, and rights advocacy support for refugee and asylum-seekers, psychosocial support, and trainings to improve social cohesion from their five offices in Kayseri, Kırıkkale, Afyonkarahısar, Trabzon and Konya. In addition, ARSA continues volunteer work in more than 60 cities around Turkey, previously implementing more than 50 projects in partnership with Kayseri Municipality, IGAM, Swiss Embassy, IBC, and UNHCR. A founding member of the Refugee Council of Turkey (TMK) and the main connection between UNHCR and Afghan refugees all over Turkey, ARSA has built a network of hundreds of volunteers to easily support new arrival refugees with translation, registration with UNHCR, Turkish immigration office, education, employment, life skills and Turkish language training. ARSA works closely with a network of Afghan refugee community leaders and focal points in various provinces around Turkey which provides an effective vantage point for reaching individuals and implementing projects to improve the situation for Afghans in Turkey as well as the host communities.

Afghanistan Hazaras Culture and Solidarity Association (AHCSA) has been operating in Turkey since 2012 with a vision to introduce the culture of the Hazaras of Afghanistan to the whole world, especially Turkey. As an at risk minority group who have long been targeted by the Taliban and Daesh for their ethnic and religious beliefs, AHCSA has a special focus on assisting Hazaras especially with accessing education in Turkey. More broadly, ACHSA has been providing social assistance, legal support, refugee and displaced persons’ rights advocacy applicable both in Turkey and internationally, and implementing fast and effective assistance to more refugees toward long-term solutions and promoting tolerance among refugees and host communities. AHCSA deals with all the vital rights of refugees and problems related to immigrant children, women, and elderly people as at risk groups from their headquarters in Trabzon and with assistance from representatives in the provinces of Ankara, Istanbul, Izmir, Antalya, Bursa, Eskişehir, Kayseri, Kırşehir, Ersurum, Bayburt, Gümüşhane, Artvin, Giresun, Afyonkarahisar, Konya, Karaman, Bolu, and Samsun.

International Blue Crescent Relief and Development Foundation (IBC), which has been carrying out humanitarian aid activities in disadvantaged regions of the world for more than 20 years, will rapidly continue to develop effective projects for Afghans with ARSA and Afghanistan Hazaras Culture and Solidarity Association (AHCSA) who are helping Afghans experiencing a major crisis due to economic and political reasons.