WHP: Can you briefly introduce Yekmal? What is your main task in Berlin?
Remziye Uykun: Yekmal e.V. is a migrant education, parent and community organisation based in Berlin that now operates nationwide, with locations in several federal states. Our main task is to strengthen multilingualism as a democratic resource, enable equal participation and structurally anchor anti-racist educational work. Yekmal works at the intersection of families, educational institutions and politics. We advocate for first and family languages to be not only symbolically recognised but concretely supported – in daycare centres, schools and extracurricular educational spaces.
We explicitly understand education as a question of power and justice: it is about whose language counts, whose knowledge is recognised, and who is allowed to participate in decision-making.
A particular focus of our work lies on institutionally marginalised languages such as Kurdish as a stateless language. The lack of structural support is not a pedagogical oversight, but an expression of political decisions and anti-Kurdish racism. Our goal is an education system that does not merely manage diversity, but understands it as the foundation of democracy and social justice.
WHP: What personally motivated you to get involved here?
Remziye Uykun: The migration policy perspective is decisive for me. I bring many years of experience in this field and represent a clear position: education, participation and democracy cannot be conceived without the consistent inclusion of people with a migration history.
Multilingualism, participation and educational justice are not abstract guiding concepts for me, but concrete political tasks. Too often, they are named without being structurally implemented. Yekmal offers me the space to address these issues in a practical, political way, together with the communities, and in an effective manner.
What motivates me is the conviction that sustainable change can only succeed if people with a migration history do not remain objects of measures, but are recognised and involved as acting subjects.
WHP: What challenges do people with a migration history face in Berlin – and how does your organisation deal with them?
Remziye Uykun: People with a migration history in Berlin continue to face structural mechanisms of exclusion and institutional discrimination. These are particularly evident in the education system, but also in access to participation, recognition and funding. As a Kurdish parents’ association, Yekmal is often subject to a general suspicion that directly affects cooperation, institutional recognition and project funding. As a Kurdish organisation, we have to legitimise ourselves far more than others. This is not an isolated case, but an expression of anti-Kurdish racism and structurally unequal treatment.
These exclusions have a direct impact on children. Kurdish children experience discrimination in schools, for example through the devaluation of their language, the lack of first-language support, or low institutional expectations. The fact that Kurdish is a stateless language further exacerbates this disadvantage.
Yekmal addresses these challenges through empowerment and educational work, professional qualification, parental counselling as well as political and professional intervention. Our approach is clear: discrimination is not an individual problem, but a structural one – and must also be addressed structurally.
WHP: Is there a project, event, or initiative coming up that you would particularly like to recommend to our readers?
Remziye Uykun: Two initiatives stand as exemplary for our work: the BEFaN network and the WIRKT! project. BEFaN is a Berlin-wide professional network of 27 migrant organisations that has existed for over ten years and works to promote the institutional anchoring and support of multilingualism, participation, diversity, and educational justice in the education system. Despite its high relevance for democracy policy, BEFaN is still largely dependent on voluntary work and is not sustainably financially secure.
The WIRKT! project is specifically aimed at parents with a migration history and strengthens parental participation and involvement, particularly in parent committees. WIRKT! combines empowerment, political education and networking with the aim of enabling parents to effectively represent their interests and actively shape educational processes.
Both initiatives clearly demonstrate that participation, diversity and democracy do not emerge on their own – they require committed migrant-led structures and reliable funding.
WHP: How can interested people support your work or get involved themselves?
Remziye Uykun: Support begins with not only recognising migrant perspectives, but actively including them. Interested people can support our work by participating in events, getting involved in projects, entering into cooperations, or making our positions visible in public and political spheres.
What is crucial here is a shared understanding that participation is not a voluntary concession, but a democratic right that must be politically intended, institutionally enabled, and permanently structurally secured.
| Remziye Uykun is a qualified sociologist. Since 2024, she has been working at Yekmal e.V., where she coordinates the Berlin-wide professional network BEFaN and is responsible for project development. For many years, she has been committed to the institutional recognition of multilingualism, strengthening migrant-led organisations, and advancing educational justice and equal participation. |
