100,000th refugee resettled from Türkiye since the EU–Türkiye deal

Resettlement brings joy and hope

Zehra is 7 years old. She loves watching gymnastics videos on YouTube — the kind where athletes flip through the air like they’re flying. She watches them again and again, completely hypnotized. And every time, she says the same thing to her mother:

“When I go to Ireland, I will become a gymnast.”

Zehra walks with a prosthetic foot, but she moves forward with confidence and with a dream that is bigger than anything she and her family have been through. Now, Zehra is about to begin a new chapter in Ireland through resettlement.

Their journey carries a special meaning. 10 years after the EU–Türkiye deal began, Zehra is the 100,000th refugee resettled from Türkiye.

For Zehra’s mother, Munire, resettlement means something very simple and very powerful: safety and freedom.

Zehra’s family is Shia and Hazara — a religious and ethnic minority in Afghanistan. Under Taliban control, safety was never something they could take for granted.

Life in Türkiye has not been easy for the family. Zehra’s father worked irregularly in a bakery for long hours being paid well below minimum wage, while the family relied mostly on support from local NGOs to cover basic needs like rent, food, and Zehra’s schooling expenses.

Even simple dreams felt out of reach. Gymnastics classes, for example, were something Zehra can only watch online because her family is focused on making sure there is enough for the essential needs of the family.

Resettlement has offered them the chance to live freely and rebuild their lives. After years of uncertainty, the family now looks forward to starting a new chapter and building a future where they can live in safety and stability.

Munire and her husband are ready to begin again. They want to learn English, integrate into the society, and build a future with their own hands. But her biggest hope is for her daughters. In Ireland, she hopes her daughters will grow up with choices, confidence, and a real chance to become whoever they want to be. Zehra already knows exactly what she wants to be: a gymnast.

Her mother smiles every time she hears Zehra say this. Not because it sounds impossible, but because she knows that in Ireland, it might finally be possible. Munire says that in Ireland, her priority will be supporting Zehra in finding a gym, finding a coach, and finding a way to make her daughter’s dream possible. It is a kind of motherhood that Munire did not get to witness growing up. A kind of childhood Zehra has never had. Her husband feels the same. “We should support our daughters fully,” he says. “They deserve a better future than we had.”

That is what resettlement can do. It doesn’t just move people from one country to another. It gives children the chance to dream and parents the chance to hope again.

Maria Hennessy, Government Liaison Officer at UNHCR Ireland, notes:

“Zehra’s arrival in Ireland as the 100,000^th refugee resettled from Türkiye to countries around the world in the past decade, is a reminder of the power and impact of resettlement. It saves lives and offers families hope, where hope is often in short supply.

Resettlement is also an act of solidarity with countries like Türkiye that host large numbers of refugees and remain under huge pressure. By supporting resettlement, Ireland commits to safe and legal pathways for refugees, so that more children like Zehra can grow up with security, choices, and the freedom to follow their dreams”.

Zehra may be the 100,000th refugee resettled from Türkiye, but she is not a number.

She is a 7-year-old girl with a bright spirit, a strong step, and a gymnast’s dream — arriving in a country where her future can finally unfold.

Resettlement isn’t only about protection; It is also about dreams, hope, and new beginnings.