"Not everyone wants to go to Europe": Narrative inquiry into the psychological struggle between movement and settlement among Syrian refugees in Turkey

Abstract

Abstract Following the onset of the Syrian Civil War, Turkey came to host the largest refugee population in the world. As of September of 2023, over 3.6 million Syrian nationals were still residing on Turkish territory, the majority of whom are classified under the temporary protection status. Their legal status in Turkey is precarious, and their access to the rights guaranteed by the 1951 U.N. Refugee Convention is limited. Yet, without the right to settle permanently in Turkey and despite the legal and economic challenges that complicate their everyday life, most Syrian refugees are reluctant to migrate toward the economically developed countries of Western Europe. Employing the methodology of narrative inquiry, this work explores the narrative-based thought processes among seven refugees of the Syrian Civil War living in Istanbul. Analyses show a complex, dynamic, and culturally situated process of making sense across two cultural contexts. While their thoughts, feelings, and attention are primarily directed towards their everyday life in Turkey, the attempts at making sense of their everyday reality are refracted through the prism of Europe. As a relational context – or as an illusion once held and then lost – Europe is not a teleological end destination of their journey but a symbolic place of refuge.