25th IPSA World Congress of Political Science, Brisbane, 21-25 July 2017
Panel: Forced Displacement and Relocation Rationales in the Syrian Refugee Crisis
Conveners: Dr Lea Müller-Funk and Ching-An Chang
WC2018 Theme: Borders and Margins
GS08: ‘Migration: Borders, Citizens, Marginalized Others’
Keywords: forced displacement – relocation – decision-making – asylum policies – Middle East – Syria – migration aspirations – imaginations
Nearly 20 percent of Syria’s population have left the country since the beginning of the civil war, most of them to Syria’s neighbouring countries. Since 2015, Europe has also experienced an increased inflow of Syrian refugees. The UN estimates that over 70 percent of Syrian refugees crossing international borders are self-settling in cities, towns and villages where they have social and economic networks. This panel aims to focus on Syrians refugees who left to Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan after 2011 to uncover the rationales of their decision-making process for choosing specific relocation places. These countries have dealt differently with the arrivals of Syrians: Jordan set up a massive refugee camp under the aegis of the UN to keep forced migrants near the border; Lebanon refused to allow formal refugee camps and counted on civil society engagement; and Turkey set up its own refugee camps but generally supported self-settlement and Syrian civil society activism.
Different macro and micro-level factors influence refugees’ decision-making about possible places where to flee to. Existing studies show that multiple factors influence their decision-making, namely, the human rights situation and the issues of safety in “transit” and destination countries, economic attractiveness, events during the flight or journey and experiences with travel agents or smugglers, existing migrant and family networks, colonial and language links, as well as geographical proximity. Based on previous research on refugees’ decision-making, this panel will investigate Syrian refugees’ relocation rationales based on five main axes: (1) the role of the asylum policies in “transit” and destination countries towards refugees, (2) political ties between the host-home governments, (3) the economic structures in host countries, (4) refugees’ personal and kinship networks, and (5) their pre-departure imaginations and expectations regarding destination countries. By doing so, the panel will demonstrate different cases of Syrian refugees’ relocation rationales in Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan drawing on long-term qualitative and quantitative field research in these countries.
The panel welcomes proposals which address relocation rationales of Syrian refugees and especially encourages papers which draw on empirical material and field research. Please apply with a paper abstract (max. 350 words) and a short CV by 30 September 2017 addressed to [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask]
Deadline for paper proposals: 30 September 2017
Other important dates:
2017:
+ 10 October: Proposal Submission Deadline
+ 15 November: Registration Opens
2018:
+ 19 January: Proposal Acceptance Notification
+ 15 March: Early Registration Deadline
+ 9 May: Final Registration Deadline
+ 1 July: Paper Upload Deadline
+ 21-25 July: WC2018 Brisbane
Information about travel grants: https://wc2018.ipsa.org/events/congress/wc2018/ipsa-travel-grants-2018
More information:
https://wc2018.ipsa.org/fr/events/congress/wc2018/theme-du-congres-frontieres-et-marges
https://wc2018.ipsa.org/fr/events/congress/wc2018/home
https://wc2018.ipsa.org/fr/events/congress/wc2018/inscription
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