Integration Processes of Syrian Refugees in Turkey: ‘Class-based Integration’

Abstract This article explores the intersections between economic resources of refugees and integration. It measures processes of adaptation of Syrians by focusing on the legal-political and socio-economic dimensions of integration. The focus of my analysis of the situations of Syrian refugees in Turkey is on class and related to financial resources that help Syrians to reach a kind of stability and security to those who lack rights. The key theoretical undertaking of this article is an attempt to develop the concept of ‘class-based integration’. The data consists of 120 semi-structured interviews conducted with Syrian refugees in Istanbul, Ankara and Gaziantep. I argue that Syrian refugees in Turkey go through ‘class-based integration’, which is in favour of refugees who do investments and who are skilled and leaves out refugees who are unskilled and do not have economic resources to invest in the receiving country from the integration processes. The article also shows that having economic resources could also support the construction of social bridges with members of the receiving society and overcoming the legal barriers to integration.