Social Class and Forced Migrants’ Secondary/Onward Mobility Decision-Making: Syrians in Turkey and Lebanon

This article aims first to understand how and why refugees decide to leave or stay in their first country of asylum, and second to contribute to the theory of agentic analyses of migration. Our contribution adds to the growing body of research examining the impact of social class and associated capitals on the trajectories of forced migrants. Our analysis of the experiences of Syrians in Turkey and Lebanon demonstrates that social class is a critical factor in shaping their experiences in their first countries of asylum. We assert that social class has a significant impact on their future mobility and immobility decisions. By using a Bourdieusian conceptualisation of capitals, habitus and social space and relying on in-depth interviews, we analyse the types of capital that forced migrants possess, their convertibility and their chances of re-establishing their class status. We show that convertibility depends on the type of capital and its interaction with social space. The difference between pre- and post-displacement class status is a significant factor in determining decisions regarding onward mobility, along with the capacity for social reproduction. Our findings demonstrate that voluntary immobility may occur among those who have achieved similar livelihoods to their pre-displacement status and are content with their lives. Lower-income households that struggle to restore their livelihoods are more likely to engage in irregular migration or become trapped in involuntary immobility.