Refugee Policies Between Legislation and Practice in Education and Social Integration: A Study of Lebanon and Turkey
Arwa Haloul
11/08/2026
The Syrian refugee crisis has created major challenges for host countries, particularly in relation to education and social integration. In response, countries such as Lebanon and Turkey have developed different refugee education policies aimed at supporting access, inclusion, and long-term integration. This study examines the gap between refugee policies and their real-life impact on refugees’ agency and social integration in education, using Lebanon and Turkey as comparative cases. The research is based on four semi-structured interviews with young Syrian refugees living in both countries. Although the policies in both contexts are designed to support access, inclusion, and integration, the findings show that refugees often face major barriers in practice. In Lebanon, these barriers include late enrolment, language differences, discrimination, and dependence on external organizations to secure access to school. In Turkey, the main challenges include age-based placement, limited academic and language support, and tuition fees in higher education. Across both cases, the study shows that policy is not only a written rule, but determination of access to education, how students experience school, and how much control they feel over their future. The findings also show that refugee students often have to rely on personal effort, family support, and outside help to continue their education. Overall, the study argues that refugee education policies should not be evaluated only by their official goals, but by how they work in everyday life and whether they truly support dignity, agency, and inclusion.