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TURKEY / SYRIAN REFUGEES TRAINING
STORY: TURKEY / SYRIAN REFUGEES TRAINING
TRT:3:48
SOURCE: FAO
RESTRICTION: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 13 JULY 2018, SANLIURFA PROVINCE, TURKEY / 14 – 16 JULY 2018, GAZIANTEP PROVINCE, TURKEY / 12 JULY 2018, MARDIN PROVINCE, TURKEY
12 JULY 2018, MARDIN PROVINCE, TURKEY
1. Various shots, views across desert towards Syrian border
16 JULY 2018, GAZIANTEP PROVINCE, TURKEY
2. Wide shot, Yunus walking beside vines
15 JULY 2018, GAZIANTEP PROVINCE, TURKEY
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yunus Yunus, Syrian refugee:
“In east Aleppo - I was in El Helou District - around eight barrel bombs on average would fall on each district per day.”
14 JULY 2018, GAZIANTEP CITY, TURKEY
4. Various shots, Gaziantep City in evening light
15 JULY 2018, GAZIANTEP PROVINCE, TURKEY
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yunus Yunus, Syrian refugee:
“I was forced to leave Aleppo and come to Turkey because first of all I was injured, back then I had broken ribs, and secondly, I feared for the safety of my family. I was scared that members of my family, my young boys, would be taken hostage again to force me to pay ransom again.”
15 JULY 2018, GAZIANTEP PROVINCE, TURKEY
6. Various shots, Yunus walking back home with fruits
7. Various shots, Yunus eating with his family
8. Med shot, Yunus feeding daughter
9. Yunus picking up daughter
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yunus Yunus, Syrian refugee:
“When I finish each day, I thank God it’s over. I carry a great burden on my shoulders. Sometimes there are expenses I haven't thought about.”
13 JULY 2018, SANLIURFA PROVINCE, TURKEY
11. Various of FAO expert speaking to group of Syrian refugee trainees
12. Syrian refugee women listening
15 JULY 2018, GAZIANTEP PROVINCE, TURKEY
13. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yunus Yunus, Syrian refugee:
“The theoretical part included lectures on how to store and plant, and how to maintain the fields.”
13 JULY 2018, SANLIURFA PROVINCE, TURKEY
14. Various of refugee training session underway
15 JULY 2018, GAZIANTEP PROVINCE, TURKEY
15. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yunus Yunus, Syrian refugee:
“On the practical side, we were taken to the fields. We received hands-on training on how planting was done, and to learn how to look after crops like grapes and pistachios. I benefited from this.”
16 JULY 2018, GAZIANTEP PROVINCE, TURKEY
16. Various shots, FAO expert showing Yunus and other Syrian refugee farm workers how to prune olive tree
15 JULY 2018, GAZIANTEP PROVINCE, TURKEY
17. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yunus Yunus, Syrian refugee:
“If someone would sponsor me or rent me a piece of land, and someone provided me agricultural inputs, for example seeds and fertilizer, I could rely on myself. I would benefit from it, and I could help others.”
16 JULY 2018, GAZIANTEP PROVINCE, TURKEY
18. Various shots, Yunus working in the field
After the trauma of his family’s flight from besieged Aleppo, Yunus is looking to the future.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yunus Yunus, Syrian refugee:
“In east Aleppo - I was in El Helou District - around eight barrel bombs on average would fall on each district per day.”
Yunus, 54, now lives with his family in a suburb of Gaziantep, a city near the Syrian border.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yunus Yunus, Syrian refugee:
“I was forced to leave Aleppo and come to Turkey because first of all I was injured, back then I had broken ribs, and secondly, I feared for the safety of my family. I was scared that members of my family, my young boys, would be taken hostage again to force me to pay ransom again.”
Yunus has been living in Turkey for five years. He has six children, two of them are disabled.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yunus Yunus, Syrian refugee:
“When I finish each day, I thank God it’s over. I carry a great burden on my shoulders. Sometimes there are expenses I haven't thought about.”
Yunus is learning Turkish, but without fluent language skills and connections, he has few options.
Yunus is among 900 Syrian refugees and Turkish community members who have so far benefitted from a partnership between the Food and Agriculture Organization of the Unit-ed Nations (FAO), the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Turkish government which provides agricultural training.
Turkey hosts more Syrian refugees than any other country. Turkey also needs skilled and semi-skilled labours in the agricultural sector, especially in livestock production, greenhouse cultivation, and the harvesting and processing of various crops (olives, cot-ton, pistachio and citrus and stone fruits).
FAO has provided agricultural training to Yunus as part of a larger initiative to build the resilience of Syrian refugees and their host communities in Turkey.
Yunus was unemployed, with no prior experience in agriculture practices when he was included in the FAO program. The difficult but delicate work of harvesting crops like olives, grapes pistachios, and pepper was all new to him after his office job in a big city.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yunus Yunus, Syrian refugee:
“The theoretical part included lectures on how to store and plant, and how to maintain the fields.”
The programme also teaches the refugees about pruning process and how to cut olive branches.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yunus Yunus, Syrian refugee:
“On the practical side, we were taken to the fields. We received hands-on training on how planting was done, and to learn how to look after crops like grapes and pistachios. I benefited from this.”
Like other trainees, Yunus received a stipend which helped to pay for his family’s daily necessities while he was taking the course.
Apart from providing training in farming skills, the programme aims to help trainees find jobs through job fairs and introductions to employers.
Turkey lacks a quarter of the agricultural labour force it needs, a gap which refugees help to fill.
The availability of skilled workers is good news for farms in the area, who sometimes struggle to find experienced help during harvest and other key moments in the annual cycle.
After the initial success of the program, FAO, UNHCR and the Turkish government have decided to launch a second phase, that will see 500 more refugees like Yunus receive training.
Yunus now also has new ambitions in the agricultural sector.
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Yunus Yunus, Syrian refugee:
“If someone would sponsor me or rent me a piece of land, and someone provided me agricultural inputs, for example seeds and fertilizer, I could rely on myself. I would benefit from it, and I could help others.”
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