Migration aspirations in forced transnational families: the case of Syrians in Turkey

Abstract

Increasingly high numbers of migrants around the globe have led migration scholars attempting to understand determinants of migration aspirations for many years. This study specifically looks at migration aspirations from two angles, (1) migration under conditions of a continuum of crises, in this case the (civil) war in Syria and precarious lives in Turkey, highlighting uncertainty and temporality entailed in crisis and (2) the role of family in migration aspirations. So far, scholarship primarily focuses on individuals in countries of origin and on voluntary migrants. Migration aspirations of forced migrants who have found refuge in another country are far less studied. Their situation, however, differs from voluntary migrants in distinct ways. Second, although the literature emphasizes the role of family for migration aspirations deep-level empirical inquiries are rare. Based on a survey among around 1,900 Syrian refugees in Turkey, this article addresses these gaps and explores the role family plays for migration aspirations among forced migrants. We take a close look by exploring how geographical family networks relate to migration aspirations and interact with other characteristics. We find that staying in Turkey seems to be the most likely option for participants at the time of the survey, but we also identify a substantial degree of uncertainty regarding migration aspirations. Furthermore, participants’ aspired places of living depend on the location of family members, above and beyond other characteristics. Moreover, (trans-)national family networks enhance or diminish effects of other determinants of migration aspirations such as perceived living conditions in Turkey.