Through the implementation of the project, the partners wanted to contribute to changing the perception of young war refugees by their peers from Poland and Turkey. The main objective of the project was to develop effective mechanisms to combat discrimination and radicalisation directed at young people from Ukraine. The partner institutions aimed to jointly develop materials dedicated to youth trainers, from which those working in a multicultural environment would derive knowledge both on how to recognise early signs indicating discrimination against refugees, as well as information on how to lead to sustainable integration across divides. The project was an 8-month initiative during which partner actors exchanged experiences of grassroots work for refugees and jointly developed a set of good practices. Its implementation was an opportunity both to jointly develop materials in the field of non-formal education and to institutionally strengthen the partner institutions by learning new methods of backyard work with young people. The project was in line with the priority of responding to warfare in Ukraine and the priority of inclusion and diversity.
Both partner organisations work with young people with refugee experience on a daily basis. For the action coordinator, supporting teenagers who arrived in Poland after the outbreak of full-scale war in Ukraine is the main area of activity, while the transnational partner supports both young people from Ukraine and young war refugees from Syria. While implementing activities for teenagers from refugee and immigrant families, both entities noticed a progressive problem related to the first manifestations of peer discrimination in recent months. After the first moments of selfless help given to refugees, the mood has changed. In Turkey, the public is confronted with massive inflation, for which it indirectly blames the war, while in Poland over the past year there have been increasing rumours of a threat of conflict in our country as well ("in retaliation for helping Ukraine"). Paradoxically, this translates into a slowly sprouting hostility towards those who lost the most in the war - the teenagers who found refuge in partner countries. The project is a response to a key social problem. It aims to develop effective mechanisms for the early identification of radicalisation and discrimination against young refugees.