Assessing the Civil Society’s Role in Refugee Integration in Turkey: NGO-R as a New Typology

Abstract

After the Syrian refugee influx in Turkey, the aspect of civil society in integration needs further clarification and categorization. Therefore, in this study, we aim to develop a general typology of NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that are active in immigration and immigration-related areas (NGO-R; non-governmental organizations—refugees). Our findings show that NGO-Rs play crucial roles in helping the refugees to access the rights provided by state, in integrating them into society at the local level by creating new social spaces and in sending humanitarian aid to the people of concern in Syria. Additionally, we claim that the refugee crisis facilitated the opportunities both for active citizenship as demanded and for new mobilization to manage the humanitarian and integration assistance towards the Syrians. Lastly, our fieldwork shows that religious and belief motives are the main factors playing a large part in the creation and maintenance of the NGO-R activities and refugee community organizations (RCOs) can have a distinctive integrative function by preferring to stay outside the mainstream channels.

Non‐governmental/civil society organisations and the European Union‐externalisation of migration management in Tunisia and Egypt

“…The growing body of work on the “humanitarian border” (Walters, 2011), analysing how logics of care and control coexist and support each other in the management of migration (Agier, 2010; Fassin, 2005; Franko Aas & Gundhus, 2015; Hyndman, 2000; İşleyen , 2018a; Little & Vaughan‐Williams, 2017; Pallister‐Wilkins, 2015; Perkowski, 2018; Ticktin, 2006; Williams, 2015), has prompted some authors to also pay specific attention to the role of NGOs/CSOs (Cuttitta, 2018a; Gerard & Weber, 2019; Lopez‐Sala & Godenau, 2019; Pallister‐Wilkins, 2017; Prokkola, 2018; Vandevoordt, 2017). However, most of the studies on NGOs/CSOs at the humanitarian border look at the territories of destination countries of the Global North, and—even in the few looking at countries of origin and transit (Sunata & Tosun, 2019)—the relationship between NGOs/CSOs, humanitarian migration management, and externalisation remains largely under‐researched. This is a promising avenue for further research, not lastly because addressing the role of human rights and humanitarianisation allows to include an analysis of Europe's normative power (Manners, 2002; Pace, 2007), and of its ability to legitimise European hegemonic neighbourhood policies (Del Sarto, 2016), in the analysis of externalisation.…”

Recurring Displacement, Homemaking and Solidarity amongst Syrian and Palestinian Syrian Refugees in Turkey

“…At Al-Nur, homemaking takes precedence over all of its other functions. Symbolic prestige tied to media attention, the capacity to attract funding and the capacity to cooperate with larger NGOs and maximise resources, features that drive competition amongst NGOs (see Daniş and Nazli 2018;Sunata and Tosun 2018), are shunned. To the extent that funding is needed, it comes primarily from individual donors who do not determine the centre's planning and programming.…”

“…A number of Turkish migration scholars argue that, despite the above turn of events and despite the unwillingness of the government and the Turkish public to admit it, Syrian refugee presence in Turkey which, as of 2020, is in its ninth year, has entered the integration phase (Içduygu and Sert 2019;Daniş and Nazli 2018). Amidst this shift in attitude on the part of the Turkish government and people towards refugees from Syria, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are playing a crucial role in helping refugees to access the rights provided by the state and to integrate them into society at the local level by creating new social spaces (Sunata and Tosun 2018). Ulaş Sunata and Salih Tosun identify four types of NGOs assisting refugees from the Syrian War who are now in Turkey: NGOs operated by migrants or refugees either locally or internationally, local Turkish NGOs operating on a small scale, international NGOs and professional NGOs that are highly specialised in a particular area and that only operate at the local level.…”

Practicing Social Cohesion in the Dark: Diverse Processes and Missing Indicators in Forced Migration Contexts

“…The burgeoning NGO sector in the area of relief and support services toward refugees is clear evidence of the growing significance of community engagement activities in Turkey. NGOs in Turkey have evolved over time from organizations offering humanitarian assistance at the local level to serving as mediators who contribute to social cohesion processes through different community engagement activities geared toward creating social spaces at the local level (Sunata and Tosun, 2019). Finally, community centers have been very active in refugee protection services and psycho-social support services, as well as awareness raising and socio-cultural activities.…”