Refugees and Social Cohesion in Higher Education: The Case of Dokuz Eylul University

Since2011, when the Syrian civil war began and the mass migration movement tookplace, the issue of migration has become an important part of Turkish domesticand foreign politics. As a reflection of the social cohesion goals that are followedin internal politics, the education policies at the level of primary,secondary, and higher education are directly affected by migration policies. Highereducation policies also prioritize the goals of "quality education"(Number 4) and "reducing inequalities" (Number 10) within the scopeof the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals. For these reasons,there is an increasing number of studies in the literature that examine theintegration processes of refugee students in higher education institutions. Accordingly,the aim of this study is to contribute to the existing literature with the caseof Dokuz Eylül University. This study is based on the information, andobservations gathered from the activities organized within the framework of theLeave "Noone Behind Project" which was implemented in 2022 at DokuzEylül University Faculty of Business in collaboration with UNHCR. Besides, thefindings of the focus group interviews, conducted in separate sessions withTurkish and refugee students as a part of the related project, are alsoexamined. As a result of the study, it is suggested that the prejudicesdeveloped by the two groups of students against each other are eliminated thanksto the socio-cultural similarities they have become aware of throughsocialization and the common memories they have developed and that theindividual experiences and perspectives they have gained can bring about achange in the direction of promoting harmony at the macro level.