Why here? Factors influencing Palestinian refugees from Syria in choosing Germany or Sweden as asylum destinations

Abstract

This paper presents the findings of 33 interviews, carried out in 2017, examining the factors influencing Palestinian refugees from Syria (PRS) in choosing Germany or Sweden as asylum destinations. The findings showed that there was a very high degree of destination specificity towards Sweden for nearly all of the participants. This was based on their desire to reach Sweden due to its accessible citizenship as compared to other European or Arab states. This paper details how most of the refugees had conducted research, drawing on information from social networks and other sources, in order to establish in which European country they could most easily and quickly acquire citizenship. As a consequence of the prioritisation of resolving their and their families’ statelessness as quickly as possible, the interviewees often devalued social and human capital. Considerations related to economic or educational opportunities played only a marginal role in the decision making. This research finds that in order to better understand the migration of stateless refugees, their desire to resolve their statelessness should be considered as a potentially significant aspect of their choice of asylum destination.

Explaining recent trends in international protection applications in Ireland

“…Numerous studies point to the presence of others from the same country as the most significant factor in destination choice, attesting to the power of social networks (Andersson and Jutvik, 2022;Brekke and Aarset, 2009;Brekke et al, 2017;Crawley and Hagen-Zanker, 2019;Dekker et al, 2018;Glorius and Nienaber, 2022;Hatton, 2017Hatton, , 2020Kuschminder, 2018a;Moore and Shellman, 2007;Neumayer, 2004;Pedersen et al, 2008;Robinson and Segrott, 2002;Tucker, 2018;cf. Collyer, 2004;Crawley, 2010;Keogh, 2013).…”

“…The literature indicates that restrictive pre-entry policies have significant impacts on the ability to access the territory to apply for asylum (Crawley, 2010;Crawley and Hagen-Zanker, 2019;Kuschminder, 2018a;Tucker, 2018;cf. Brekke et al, 2017).…”

“…This has been interpreted to mean that what matters most to applicants is the prospect of gaining permanent settlement and security, regardless of the short-term hardships (Hatton, 2020;Ponce, 2019;Diop-Christensen and Diop, 2022). Others have found that the most important policies for interviewed asylum applicants were familyreunification policies (Crawley and Hagen-Zanker, 2019;McAuliffe, 2017;Tucker, 2018;Diop-Christensen and Diop, 2022), which also indicates that the prospects of permanent settlement are important.…”

“…As Lee (1966) notes, the same context in an origin country and information about a destination country can be perceived as positive, negative or neutral by different people. Individuals' legal situations also impact decisions: McAuliffe and Jayasuriya (2016) found that those who were already displaced prioritised safety more than others, and Tucker (2018) found that stateless Palestinian refugees saw Sweden as a major destination because of relatively accessible citizenship (i.e., a naturalisation regime that made it easier to obtain citizenship than other countries), which mattered to them more than to those who were not stateless.…”

Origin and transit migration of Afghans and Syrians to Germany: The influential actors and factors behind the destination choice

“…Some researchers believe that asylum seekers are not in a position to decide, plan and choose their destination country but instead, some factors come together and specify certain countries as a destination for them (Crawley & Hagen‐Zanker, 2019; Day & White, 2002; Robinson & Segrott, 2002). However, others challenge this idea and try to prove that even asylum seekers do not end up in a country without their own decision making in relation to the choice of destination country (Dimitriadi, 2017; McAuliffe & Jayasuriya, 2016; Tucker, 2018).…”