The 5 biggest refugee myths: debunked

Aug 19, 2019

âIt is my favourite city in the whole of Turkey. It is big and busy, and despite being crowded and the travelling I have to do get to university, I still love it.ââSidra Taleb looks out across the water from the Galata Bridge in Istanbul. The 21-year-old Syrian refugee from Aleppo has been living here since 2014 and is studying dentistry thanks to a Turkiye Burslari scholarship. ; In 2019, Turkey continues to be home to the worldâs largest refugee population (around 4 million, including nearly 3.7 million registered Syrian refugees). Refugee students have been awarded full scholarships to study at Turkish universities with UNHCRâs support. These scholarships cover the full duration of academic study towards a degree, provide monthly stipends to cover living expenses, and offer activities where students can meet and create peer support networks. UNHCR works with key actors in the higher education sector including the Higher Education Council and Turks Abroad and Related Communities (YTB), and convenes a higher education working group that brings together different actors who provide scholarships, disseminate information on higher education opportunities and have support or bridging programmes for students.

Like the majority of Syrian refugees in Turkey, Sidra Taleb lives in an urban area. Image: UNHCR/Diego Ibarra Sanchez

Alexander Court

Marketing Communications Lead, World Economic Forum

The Big Picture

Explore and monitor how Migration is affecting economies, industries and global issues

A hand holding a looking glass by a lake

Crowdsource Innovation

Get involved with our crowdsourced digital platform to deliver impact at scale

Stay up to date:

Migration

Image: UNHCR

Don't miss any update on this topic

Create a free account and access your personalized content collection with our latest publications and analyses.

License and Republishing

World Economic Forum articles may be republished in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International Public License, and in accordance with our Terms of Use.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

The Agenda Weekly

A weekly update of the most important issues driving the global agenda

Subscribe today

You can unsubscribe at any time using the link in our emails. For more details, review our privacy policy.

More on Migration
See all

Forced displacement is at a record high – and so is the data we have on it

Björn Gillsäter

August 7, 2023

The 90-year-old WWII refugee using sports to change the lives of refugees

Gabi Thesing

July 20, 2023

Refugees deserve compassion: a walk towards positive change

Christa Odinga-Svatenson and Diana Alvarez

June 20, 2023

4:19

Dance to live: the story of ballet dancer Ahmad Joudeh

More than 100 million people around the world have been forcibly displaced

Stefan Ellerbeck and Joe Myers

June 20, 2023

'No one plans to be a refugee': The Burundian entrepreneur who wishes to be seen beyond his status

Pooja Chhabria and Tarini Fernando

June 19, 2023