The seal of the "interim government" overthrows the dreams of university students in Turkey - Enab Baladi

Enab Baladi - Lama Rajeh | Ibrahim Hussein | Ali Eid

Editing and supervision: Ali Eid

Alaa, 28 years old, tried to attest his high school diploma at the “Citizen Service” center affiliated with the “Syrian Interim Government,” in order to return to the university major that he was denied, after he was a student at the University of “Aleppo” before he was forced to seek refuge in Turkey. He sent his papers twice by mail, and each time he put 55 Turkish liras in an envelope with the documents, but they were returned without certification and without the money.

Alaa, who works today as a salesman in a small shop in the city of Gaziantep, southern Turkey, says that about a year ago he had to go to the “Citizen Service” center to find the door closed in front of a group of young women and men while he was among them. An end due to (Corona)”, but she did not inform them of any formula through which the problem could be resolved, after which the director of the center came out repeatedly refusing to receive any question or provide advice for the same reason.

According to his testimony to the investigators, Alaa tried to explain the suffering in an intervention on a TV station program, but he was surprised when someone called him threatening with the phrase “How dare you talk about the (coalition) government and about issues bigger than you.” The call was repeated again with the phrase “If you say these things again, you will run into trouble.” In both cases, the caller's number did not appear, according to Alaa, which the investigation team could not verify.

Many people like Alaa came from different regions inside Syria carrying the legacy of the war that threw them out of universities, and their dream was to complete their education like any person living a normal life, and their suffering was exacerbated by the weakness of supportive institutions.

Since 2011, millions of Syrians left their homes to escape the hell of death, either displaced to camps and other areas inside the country, or refugees in distant or neighboring countries such as Turkey, which received until the end of last March about 3.7 million Syrians registered under temporary protection, including 57,502 A person residing in camps, according to the statistics of the Turkish General Directorate of Immigration.

A Syrian worker in the higher education sector in Turkey, who preferred not to be named, says that there are negative indicators that portend a catastrophe at the level of specialized cadres and holders of university degrees, which threatens the future of restoring development and the construction and reconstruction process in the event of the return of refugees, as the issued figures indicate According to official sources, the number of Syrian university students in Turkey does not exceed 27 thousand students for the academic year 2019-2020, which means that only seven out of every thousand Syrians in Turkey receive university education, and this number is much lower than the average in the country, as Figures reported by the Turkish News Agency on the head of state, and published on February 12, indicate that one out of every eight Turks is pursuing a university education, a rate that is 18 times higher than the rate of Syrian university graduates relative to their number in Turkey.

The certification (documentation) of educational certificates for Syrians in Turkey is one of the most urgent aspects, especially secondary school certificates issued by Syria for those wishing to complete their university education, and there are thousands of those who sent their documents for certification, but the dealings were shocking, according to witnesses interviewed by the authors of the investigation. Many of the testimonies were returned to their owners without attestation, and despite repeated attempts and the authenticity of the documents, the opportunity was lost, as happened with “A. R." (35 years old), who asked not to disclose his identity for security reasons, who says in his testimony that he carried his papers with his hands to the “Citizen Service” center, so they told him that the certificate was forged, and he had to pay money to obtain five copies of his high school certificate from the city of Deir Ezzor, from which he fled He became a refugee in Gaziantep, but his effort ended with the employee refusing to attest it again, asking him for the “cartoon” certificate, noting that he had not told him in advance that what was required was the “cartoon” version, so he despaired of obtaining the required certifications after a year and a half that he spent waiting without interest, ignoring Dream of entering university.

Attorney Yousef al-Nirbani, who was the first to be entrusted with managing the Citizen Service Center at the end of August 2016, says that the center used to certify secondary school certificates (baccalaureate) issued About the “interim government” and those issued by the government of the Syrian regime, as the opposition government has information on electronic disks about the certificates issued by it, obtained from the directorates of education in the areas that were liberated (out of the regime’s control) before 2015, and work was being done Free and unorganized.

After the change of government in July 2016, the office became affiliated to the General Secretariat of the “Syrian Interim Government.”

Yousef al-Nirbani lasted, according to his testimony, only four months, when he got into a dispute with the prime minister because of his direct interference in the work of the center and obstruction of the provision of services, and as a result he left work in early 2017.

He proposed a structure for the center and a list of services, including certification of certificates, and it was approved by a decision of the Council of Ministers.

High school certificate attestation fees according to the decision of the “interim government” - September 21, 2016

Citizen Service Center services and fees according to the decision of the Interim Government - October 20, 2016

For an authority to certify a certificate and then cancel the seal using a white corrector. This is a rare certificate obtained by a student for certification residing near Istanbul.

The witness, whose identity was concealed for security reasons, says that he sent his testimony with four others for authentication through one of the intermediary offices, but the envelope in which the certificate was placed came back and it was certified, then three of the testimonies were annulled with the white corrector, and a paper was attached on which was written “ It must be sent by the same person” (without an intermediary).

Surprisingly, the witness tells his story after he paid an amount of about 700 dollars to bring an original copy of his certificate from inside Syria. He is a middle school graduate, and fled to Turkey from an area near Damascus.

The witness does not hide his fear of communicating or visiting the “Citizen Service” center after he appeared on a television program explaining what he was subjected to by the center’s employees, noting that one of the media mediated to solve the issue.

The witness who works in a “shawarma” restaurant today expresses his despair, saying: “I wanted to enroll in the university, complete my studies, and try to find a future.” He added that he sent the certificate because he cannot travel to Gaziantep, as he is the breadwinner for his family and cannot He left the job, accusing the employee of “not having a sense of responsibility,” and being ignorant of the value of the document, which should not be subject to any deletion or alteration.

A secondary certificate that appears to have been tampered with by using a white corrector after being stamped by the “Citizen Service” center of the “Interim Government”

One of the witnesses working for the “interim government,” who asked not to be named, claimed the existence of what he called a “theft” of part of the sums paid by Syrian citizens to certify academic certificates from the first primary grade to the secondary certificate (Sharia, agricultural, commercial, public in its literary and scientific branches).

The employee indicated that the “interim government” opened an investigation, which showed that the former director of the “Citizen Service” center, and two employees, shared extra sums over postage costs, as each citizen who wants to attest his certificate pays a fee of 30 Turkish liras, and an additional amount as a fee. Re-sending by mail (15 TL), but the return fee was less than that amount.

The employee confirms that the “interim government” has punished the employees with dismissal, but the “Syrian Coalition” and the Secretary-General of the “interim government,” Fayez al-Nabi, rejected this measure, because it would have a negative impact on the “coalition” and the government, and it was enough The process of transferring the former “Citizen Service” director to another directorate, provided that the rest of the employees are transferred in stages, and without being held accountable or dismissed.

The witness talked about brokerage operations and chaos that led to the loss of a number of certificates, which prompted the center to issue lists of those whose certificates were lost, claiming that there was a mistake in the address, asking them to review or call to obtain the certificates.

The investigation team carried the testimony of the employee and the affected applicants for document authentication services to the various concerned parties.

The Government's Response: Regime, Brokers, and Weak Souls

Fayez al-Nabi, Secretary-General of the "Syrian Interim Government", responded to allegations that its source was affected "by the (interim government) attesting testimonies", and carried out campaigns of "distortion" On social media, there was confusion about the center’s work.”

Al-Nabi blamed the campaign on the authorities of the regime and its consulate in Istanbul, in addition to “brokerage offices that took money from students and sent their certificates without the presence of an agency or a legal document.” He added that there were “cases of forgery” that were carried out by “some weak-minded people.” indicating that they may have an interest in the smear campaign.

About an investigation that ended with transferring employees instead of dismissing them, Al-Nabi categorically denied the information, considering the transfer as an “internal procedure” aimed at “improving the center’s services.”

Who stole the attestation fees?

During the visit of the investigation team to the “Citizen Service” center, it happened that an envelope was opened before arriving at the center, and it was found that the amount that was supposed to be paid by the sender did not exist, which indicates This leads to a problem in organizing the work and the loss or embezzlement of money, which was asked about by the government and employees, and it seemed that everyone did not want to hold any party directly responsible.

The Secretary-General of the “interim government” attributed the reason to the lack of a bank account, adding, “We are a political institution that has political recognition, and we are not an institution with legal personality in Turkey, and therefore it is not possible to open a bank account, but our efforts have not stopped and we are trying to communicate with the Turkish side to find a solution.”

Al-Nabi asked us about the possibility of using the “interim government” account, and whether that account was opened in the name of people on the grounds that it belongs to a political body and not a legal person, as he said previously, and how it is used in government work, if this is the case. However, the answer was not clear, as he did not disclose the nature of the account, saying: “That is another matter.”

Confusion and inconsistency

The Citizen Service Center recently reduced the fee for returning certificates to 15 Turkish liras from the 20 liras it used to charge previously, in addition to the 30 liras certification fee.

Some of the investigation witnesses talked about paying return fees despite handing over the certificates, which means that the returns fees went to an unknown destination.

The director of the Citizen Service Center, Trad Al-Saadoun, ruled out the existence of money theft, and preferred not to provide any information about the period prior to his assumption of the assignment last February.

He pointed out that some envelopes arrive without money, and others cost more than the amount sent as a return fee in the mail, and he did not deny at the same time that there is a surplus in a few cases, which does not exceed a few Turkish liras.

Al-Saadoun continues that the center signed an agreement with the Yurtiçi Kargo company, with the aim of organizing the process of resending documents.

In order to verify the existence of surplus funds for certification fees whose fate is unknown, an official at the Turkish Post Corporation (PTT) was checked with him, and he confirmed that putting money inside the envelope is basically against the law, but sometimes it is overlooked, according to the desire of postal employees, which is consistent With the testimonies of a number of Syrians who confirmed that the employees prevented them from putting sums in the envelopes with the certificates required to be certified, while a number of others said that the employees passed the matter without objection.

Concerning the fees, the postal official says that the fee for retransferring documents to their owners by mail from the interim government ranges between 16 and 20 Turkish liras, depending on the weight of the papers. An envelope containing five A4 sheets.

The fee increases to 20 Turkish liras for envelopes weighing between 20 and 100 grams.

Concerning the way the center deals with the sums sent or paid by the certification applicants, Khaled Al-Hamad, the center’s accountant, says that the collection of fees takes place “according to receipt books in three copies, the first for the person concerned, the second is kept with the file, and the third remains in the receipt book.”

Al-Hamad confirms that the amounts are recorded according to a daily record in which the payer’s name, date and amount are mentioned, as reconciliation is made with the books of receipt receipts and the number of certified documents, and at the end of each day the revenues are collected, and at the end of each week they are delivered to the central treasury of the Ministry of Finance affiliated to “ the provisional government.”

An announcement in the “Citizen Service” center regarding the fees for attestation and return of certificates (Enab Baladi)

Receipt of the certification fee (Enab Baladi)

A number of investigation witnesses confirmed that the center closed its doors for a long period that exceeded the period in which the Turkish government imposed the closure process due to the spread of the “emerging corona” virus (Covid-19), which was admitted by the center’s director, Trad Al-Saadoun, indicating that the closure It coincided with the university admissions period between the fifth and tenth months of the year 2020.

Yahya Al-Abdullah, an employee at the center and its former president, attributed the reason for the long closure to the infection of the center’s employees with the virus, noting that during the month of August 2020, the center’s employees were quarantined for a period of 14 days, which is the period during which university admissions are applied for. .

In order not to miss the opportunity to apply for university admissions in Turkey, the center contacted the Turkish Ministry of National Education to give additional time for students to confirm their registration in universities, due to the exceptional situation the center went through, and this was approved, according to al-Abdullah, who added In turn, we assure you that no harm will occur to any student who intended to register at the university during that period.

However, it does not seem that the matter is limited to the period of university comparisons, and what Al-Abdullah reported contradicts the testimony of Ragda (39 years old), who was residing two streets away from the center when she went to it in March 2020, and she was unable to authenticate her testimony, as she saw a group of The auditors were not received behind closed doors, and their messages on the center’s phone were not answered, so she had to go to the “PTT” mail, and she sent the document with an amount of 50 Turkish liras, and the matter took about 45 days, despite all attempts to request acceleration of certification.

The “interim government,” according to witnesses, did not provide alternatives to meet the needs of the students and certification seekers who were left to their fate, and many of them lost the opportunity to enroll in the university or had their work interrupted due to the delay, which contradicts what officials at the center reported.

Problematic management and lost addresses

A number of witnesses who visited the center complained of bad treatment by the staff, led by Yahya al-Abdullah, who is a current employee who is “influential,” according to their description. He also held the position of director of the center for a while. A precedent, and their testimonies intersect with what was said by the Turkish official in the Directorate of Education in Gaziantep, who had contact with the same person, and indicated that Al-Abdullah obstructed many testimonies and documents of auditors for incomprehensible reasons, and that some of the documents he refused to sign on the pretext that they were forged, were revealed to the education The Turkish language is correct through the “system” and its auditing mechanisms, which has missed the owners of the opportunity to complete the study or authenticate papers and certificates.

Concerning the testimony of the employee who stated that the chaos caused the loss of a large number of certificates, the investigation revealed that the center issued three lists of names of 338 people who did not receive their certificates, asking them to review (the first includes the names of 133 people, the second 172, and the third 33 names).

While the employee, Yahya Al-Abdullah, said that the transactions of all the people whose names were mentioned in them were completed, and they were sent to their owners, but they were returned without their owners receiving them as a result of an error in the address or phone number.

The documents of the applicants to authenticate their certificates at the “Citizen Service” center in Gaziantep (the interim government)

Zaydoon Al-Zoubi is a specialist in Quality Management and Governance

Depending on his experience working with governmental and private agencies and international organizations, we presented a number of points that the investigation addressed to Dr. Zaidoun Al-Zoubi, a specialist in quality management and governance.

On the issue of the chaos of postage fees, and the complexities of opening a bank account, Al-Zoubi indicated that the issue is taken from the perspective of the principles of good governance, the most important of which are transparency, participation and inclusion, as people are transparent about the complexities, listening to them and putting them in the form of difficulties, which prompts them to respect the process. How will people understand the impossibility of opening a bank account for the “Citizen Service” center because it is affiliated with a political figure and not a legal one, while the government owns an account and at the same time bears the same description?

When participatory does not take place, suspicion arises, because “people are enemies of what they are ignorant of,” according to Zaidoun al-Zoubi, and lack of understanding leads to suspicion at the general level, and this is an essential part of corruption resulting from ignorance of administration and good governance, and not as a result of theft.

Al-Zoubi points out that most of the corruption in Syrian institutions results from ignorance or mismanagement, and it is often unintended corruption. Corruption may also result from poor organization, and intentions may be good, but there is a lack of knowledge about management.

With regard to the poor organization during the “Corona” period and the confusion surrounding the loss of opportunity for many, according to witnesses, and the accompanying accumulation during the closure period due to “Corona,” Al-Zoubi believes that the other part of good governance is the effective response, which depends on Risk governance by the management, and this does not mean only predicting risks, but rather setting a vision for dealing with them and who is responsible for this treatment, with monitoring and follow-up tools.

Concerning the statement that hundreds of people wrote their addresses or phone numbers wrong and their documents were lost, he wonders: “Is there a parallel e-mail process that guarantees that documents are not lost or returned without their owners receiving them?”

He continues that such problems arise as a result of working without alternative plans and not studying the risks, and when conditions arise such as those that occurred in the “Corona” pandemic, the response becomes arbitrary, noting that this does not concern the Syrians, as there are developed countries that have experienced the same problem, Which means that part of the mismanagement may be beyond our control.

On the subject of taking responsibility for what is happening, and on the aspect of accountability and transparency, Al-Zoubi wonders how accountability can be possible without evidence, and how evidence can be obtained without a documented process, and the lack of participation in making the process, these elements are linked to each other.

He explains that there is corruption in many places that cannot be proven due to the lack of evidence based on documented operations, and administrative steps that are set according to clear stages so that it expects the occurrence of a defect at any stage, so it prepares alternatives and solutions, and prevents the occurrence of defect or corruption, for example when you By issuing audited financial reports from a third party, this is a procedure that goes far beyond corruption, and with the absence of such a procedure as is the case in Syrian institutions, the possibility of corruption that may not be proven increases. To return with an amount in his pocket, you cannot say whether this amount has been taken part of it because there is no evidence to prove it.

He concludes that with regard to the Syrian reality, the possibilities of mismanagement and corruption remain due to many factors, including poor experience, chaos, and even security aspects. The eight principles of governance are ideal if all of them are achieved, but there is no institution in developed countries that can apply them strictly. “So what about Syria, where there is chaos, multiple control, weak administration, and a lack of specialists?”

We are still at the beginning of the road

The investigation sought to verify allegations of suspicion of corruption, disorder, mismanagement, or mistreatment of citizens, and the amount of sums paid to the “Citizen Service” office, and 13 testimonies were used. Some people believed or failed to believe their testimonies. The investigation team also interviewed a number of current and former employees and officials of the “Citizen Service” center, the “interim government”, the Turkish Directorate of Education and the Postal Service.

Through the investigation and exhumation of the case, it became clear that there are more serious aspects related to the fate of thousands of students who lost hope in their country for the first time. They have been subjected to abuse, threats, damage to documents or a disorder that has caused them to lose the opportunity to complete their university education.

The “interim government,” through its Secretary General, says that it does not consider canceling the fees, and that it did not find a solution by opening a bank account to prevent the spiral of suspicion of financial corruption regarding the fees, or forcing the Syrians to violate Turkish law by sending money in envelopes.

While he talked about the achievements made by the center, promising more, the Secretary-General of the Government answers the question of the investigation about the necessity of adopting good governance by saying: “We are still at the beginning of the road.”

An investigative investigation carried out by the “Syria Indicator” project within the framework of solutions journalism, revealing the issue of Syrian students losing the opportunity to enroll in Turkish universities or being affected by administrative chaos and mistreatment in the “Citizen Service” center of the “interim government” (run by the political opposition).

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