Cash assistance provides a stepping stone for refugees
Mohammad now has a job at a chicken farm and can support his family. But it was not always this way. ESSN cash assistance helped his family cope during their difficult times as Syrian refugees in Turkey.
A drowsy Mohammad is still rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he speaks about what it means to help his family stand on its own feet and to be legally employed as a refugee.
The 18-year-old has woken up a few hours earlier than usual to speak to us. For the last month, he has been working the night shift at a local chicken factory in Usak, Turkey. For him it is the first job where he is legally employed. And despite the hours it means the world to him. His father also works at the same factory.
“The work is good. I get paid on time. I am happy,” says Mohammad. “I work to help my family, especially my younger siblings. I am happy that I can do this legally.”
Mohammad worked as a seasonal farm worker before getting his current job. This meant he could never be sure of when he was going to get work and, as a result, neither he nor his family could ever make any proper plans.
The criteria for receiving Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) cash assistance specify that anyone who is legally employed — and hence part of Turkey’s social security system — is no longer eligible. In fact, Mohammad’s family now no longer receive the support.
Yet, the family says without ESSN, they would never have been in a position to apply for and get legal employment. The assistance gave them a platform of stability on which to build.
Ziham, Mohammad`s mother, says ESSN helped the family survive dark times when they came to Turkey from Syria`s Deir ez-Zor four years ago.
“For around 2 years and 3 months we received ESSN assistance. Without it, we wouldn’t have been able to survive,” she says. “Life is still challenging. We are a family of eight with three children going to school. Anyway, working and earning our own money is always better.”
The ESSN is a majority European Union-funded cash assistance program that helps more than 1.6 million of the most vulnerable refugees in Turkey. It is jointly implemented by the World Food Programme and the Turkish Red Crescent, with vital support from the Turkish government.
The ESSN programme directly impacts refugee families — restoring some normalcy and stability to their disrupted lives.
Stepping stone to normalcy
There are an estimated 75–80 Syrians employed at the chicken factory in Usak, according to Muna, a 31-year-old Syrian woman who also works there.
She says working at the factory has helped them become a more tight-knit community, both among themselves and with their Turkish colleagues. But it is not all plain sailing, she emphasizes.
“It is much much better to earn our own money. No doubt about that. But having to survive on one salary which is not very high makes it very difficult for us. I have four small children and find it hard to take care of them and work as well,” she says.
Ziham, 39, says their ESSN cash assistance ended when her husband started working legally at the chicken factory around seven months ago. At first it was very tough on one salary and no ESSN assistance. But the situation improved after Mohammad also started working as a chicken packer at the same factory.
Unlike Mohammad himself, who had to discontinue school after moving to Turkey, three of his siblings attend school. This is partly thanks to the money that Mohammad earns — and it is a source of deep satisfaction.
“I work for my family. I am very happy that the money I earn helps send my sisters and brother to school,” he says. “Of course, it is also very good that we can afford to buy more food to put on the table.”
