Migration aspirations of Syrian refugees in Turkey against the background of their family situation

Migration Department

Project head: Dr. Franck Düvell

Project team members: Dr. David Schiefer

Turkey officially has 3.6 million Syrian refugees registered, more than any other country, although their actual numbers are likely to be far lower. In 2015/16, around one million refugees moved on to the EU until the borders were closed again. The aim of this project was to find out how many Syrian refugees actually live in Turkey and what their migration aspirations are: Do they want to stay, return or move on to the EU? In particular, it was to be investigated to what extent family constellations have an influence on migration aspirations, how decision-making processes take place within the family unit and what role the perception of refugee rights and social rights in Turkey, the EU and especially in Germany have on migration decisions.

Results: An analysis of the available administrative data on Syrian refugees in Turkey showed that it is highly inflated. In addition, around 1,900 face-to-face questionnaire interviews were conducted with Syrian refugees in six provinces spread across Turkey. The analysis of this survey data showed that more than half (53 per cent) of the respondents see their future in Turkey and a good quarter (26 per cent) would like to migrate to Europe. However, very few (less than 2 percent) can afford to do so. The preliminary results were presented to the European Commission in Brussels and to the European Asylum Support Office in Malta. A DeZIM Research Note and a methodological report on key findings were written and will be published in a technical article. Further technical papers are to follow.

Funding: Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Institutional funding)

Cooperation partner:

Prof. Dr. Ali Zafer Sağıroğlu (Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University), Prof. Dr. Martin Lemberg-Petersen (Aalborg University)