BUILDING EVERYDAY BORDERING AND SYRIAN REFUGEES: THE CASE OF ALTINDAĞ

Year 2021, Volume: 43 Issue: 1, 86 - 103, 01.08.2022

Zelal Özdemir

Abstract

This study aims at understanding the multifaceted everyday bordering practises that the Syrian refugees face drawing on the 30 in-depth interviews conducted with the Syrian refugees living in Altındağ, Ankara. Building on Critical Border Studies and Migration Studies, the study contends that as the physical borders between Turkey and Syria become more porous, internal bordering practices have become more diffused and are enforced mainly by non-state actors. This has been driving “reactionary bordering” against Syrian refugees by the Turkish
population. In order to cope with the bordering practices, Syrian refugees develop various and sometimes contradictory de-bordering strategies. The study revealed 3 types of bordering practices faced by Syrian refugees in Altındağ. These are "bogus refugee" in which the status of asylum seeker is questioned, “cultural bordering” in which Syrians are seen as culturally inferior, and threat perception that sees the refugees as national security concern. The strategies developed by asylum-seekers in response to these practices vary according to their social positionings

Keywords

Critical Border Studies, Bordering, Everyday Bordering, Syrian Refugees

GÜNDELİK SINIRLARIN İNŞASI VE SURİYELİ SIĞINMACILAR: ALTINDAĞ ÖRNEĞİ

Abstract

Kuramsal olarak Eleştirel Sınır Çalışmaları ile Göç Çalışmalarını bir araya getiren bu araştırma ampirik olarak Ankara’nın Altındağ ilçesinde Suriyeli sığınmacılarla gerçekleştirilen 30 yüz yüze derinlemesine mülakata dayanmaktadır. Çalışmada Türkiye ile Suriye arasındaki fiziksel sınırların daha geçirgen hale gelmesi sonucu, sınır bölgelerinden uzakta “sınır”lama (bordering) uygulamalarının daha yaygın hale geldiği öne sürülmekte ve bu uygulamaların sınırı çizmek ve korumakla sorumlu aktörlerden ziyade gündelik hayatta sıradan insanlar tarafından hayata geçirildiği söylenmektedir. Bu çalışma, Türkiye'deki değişen siyasi, ekonomik ve sosyal ilişkilerin getirdiği daha geniş bir yapısal ve kurumsal dönüşüm süreci ile sınır çalışmalarını bir araya getirmekte, Suriyeli sığınmacılara karşı hayata geçirilen gündelik sınır koyma pratiklerini tartışmakta ve sığınmacıların bu pratikler karşısında geliştirdiği baş etme/sınırla(n)mayı aşma stratejilerini ele almaktadır. Çalışmada Suriyeli sığınmacıların karşı karşıya kaldığı 3 tür sınırlama pratiği ortaya çıkmıştır. Bunlar, sığınmacı statüsünün sorgulandığı “sahte mültecilik”, Suriyelilerin kültürel olarak geri görüldüğü kültürel sınırlama ve sığınmacıların tehditleştirilmesidir. Bu uygulamalara karşılık olaraksa sığınmacıların geliştirdikleri stratejiler, sığınmacıların öznel sosyal konumları doğrultusunda çeşitlilik göstermektedir

Keywords

Eleştirel Sınır Çalışmaları, Sınırlama, Gündelik Sınırlar, Suriyeli Sığınmacılar

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