Foreign Affairs Committee on March 9th, 2017

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

I was in Lebanon in December. We visited some of the areas where there are Syrian camps. I asked about the education they are getting. So far, based on what I know from Lebanon, and I'm from there, I'm comfortable about the education they're getting at least within the Lebanese educational system, which remains overall the best or at least the most acceptable to give a proper education.

I also have some information about Jordan, but my concern is about Turkey. Is the government providing the Turkish curriculum for education? I'm talking K to 12, K to 9, and those small children who need the most development. Do you know what type of curriculum is being provided? How satisfied are you, if you were to assess for your own children, with the education they're getting now?

[Rand Sukhaita]

As I mentioned the Syrian refugees in Turkey don't have refugee status. That's why they have been dealt with as guests for more than four years.

Now in Turkey we have this temporary education centre. There are the Turkish school buildings and after they finish at 2 p.m., the Syrians come to these centres and use them until 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. They use the Syrian curriculum, but again it's not approved.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

By the regime...? Are you talking post-war?

[Rand Sukhaita]

The regime had some additions, with the Syrian coalition, and the interim government made some additions to it with everything related to the regime. You can see it in each picture, on each page, in any subject.

They made some additions to the curriculum and they provided it for four years in this temporary education centre, but now they have a new plan to include all the Syrian children in the Turkish school. The plan has a timeline from now to four years. They are providing Turkish courses and they started with some grades and they will move to others. Hopefully it will be fine after that.

[Ziad Aboultaif, Conservative, Edmonton Manning, AB]

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

We're going to finish with Mr. Saini.

[Raj Saini, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Thank you very much for coming here today. I am also a pharmacist by profession. My questions are going to be health related.

[Rand Sukhaita]

Don't ask me anything about pharmacy.

[Raj Saini, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

No, I won't ask you anything about drugs. I've forgotten too, so I won't put you on the spot that way.

You talk about trying to do all these things, and I commend you for all of your work. One of the things that is also very important, especially for women and girls, is health. Economics is one viewpoint, and changing the stigmas and the social norms is another viewpoint, but in terms of food or health, which are the necessities, what's the situation on the ground there? Maybe we can just concentrate on the health, because I think you'd have a very concise way of explaining it.

[Rand Sukhaita]

Because we're not working in health and there are medical organizations that specialize in these issues, they should work more than we do. I don't have examples from the field. I can give you my personal general view.

In Syria, as most of you know, the hospitals were targeted. Before people evacuated from Aleppo, there were no hospitals operating in any of the liberated areas. They are all out of service, so there is a need. I know that women who have come to our centre have asked for hygiene kits. We still do awareness sessions specialized for women, and our social worker is trying to do awareness sessions about their rights. I don't know what it is in English—the maternity....

[Elana Wright]

Do you mean maternal health?

[Rand Sukhaita]

Yes, maternal health and how they can support their young girls in this.

It's the same situation in Turkey, but in Turkey, they can access the governmental hospitals with this temporary protection card without paying anything. It's free.

[Raj Saini, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

With the situation that's there, you must also have to deal with a lot of people who are going through trauma. How do you deal with that? You're trying to provide an opportunity for economic empowerment and independence, but you're also dealing with families that in some cases have lost family members, have seen tragic events, or have passed through very tragic circumstances.

Basically, as you say, you're providing a safe space, but it involves so much more. How do you deal with that on an ongoing basis?

[Rand Sukhaita]

Actually we have specialists who are able to identify some cases and maybe give them more support, but we also refer them. Sometimes you can't do everything by yourself and we should co-operate. There are a lot of organizations inside Syria and in Turkey that are specialized. They have psychiatrists and mental health centres. We coordinate with them and do referrals and they can also follow up. In a lot of cases, we don't know the names or the causes.

[Raj Saini, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Are there adequate resources? I'm sure that a lot of the Syrian professionals, prior to the circumstances of the last four or five years especially in Aleppo, must have already left. How do you provide...?

[Rand Sukhaita]

This is the other challenge and especially in the health and trauma or psychosocial support field. It's very hard to find people who are trained and specialized still inside Syria.

Before when the borders were open, it was very easy for them to go to Turkey and get training for one month or two months and then follow-up sessions, and they could go to Syria and implement that. Now it's getting harder, with the border closed, to get our staff from inside and train them. Other organizations, a lot of specialized organizations, have specialists and they do training for people inside Syria to do so. Also they provide training for our staff on how to identify some cases and they come and follow up.

[Raj Saini, Liberal, Kitchener Centre, ON]

Thank you very much.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

Thank you very much for being here today and for giving us an update on what you're doing with your work and what's happening there on the front line. We do appreciate it.

That's all we have for today, ladies and gentlemen.

[Rand Sukhaita]

Thank you.

[The Vice-Chair, Conservative, Dean Allison]

The meeting is adjourned.