Temps de lecture : 11 minutes

Syrian refugee women in Turkey: a gendered integration process

27.12.2020

Written by Marie PELÉ

Translated by Caroline Feldner

Turkey is now home to the largest number of refugees^[1]In this article, the term refugee will be used because their conditions are those of refugees under international law. However, this term has no legal existence in Turkish law. in the world^[2]European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, “Turkey”, figures as of 26/08/2020, European Commission. The majority of this refugee population is of Syrian origin: 3.6 million^[3]Turkish Home Office, figures as of 04/11/2020, available at: https://en.goc.gov.tr/temporary-protection27 Syrian nationals live in Turkey under temporary protection of the Turkish state^[4]According to Article 91 of the Law on Foreigners and International Protection of 11/04/2013, Temporary protection may be granted to foreigners who have been forced to leave their country, who cannot … Continue reading. Istanbul, an attractive megalopolis for its economic and social activity, concentrates a large part of the migrant population. However, other cities also experience this relatively high level of immigration. Indeed, the Turkish government has established quotas per city in order to distribute the migrant population over the entire territory. Ambitioning to equally distribute individuals between different territories presents considerable difficulties, especially as the civil war in their country made this migration a forced one.

By fleeing the armed conflict in Syria, people are trying to escape the country’s chaos as well as death, which has already affected more than 250,000 people^[5]United Nations, “Syria”, UN News, available at: https://news.un.org/fr/focus/syrie in Syria. Turkey’s southeastern provinces, such as Hatay and Gaziantep, are home to nearly 900,000 people^[6]Turkish Home Office, available at: https://en.goc.gov.tr/temporary-protection27, and where the Syrian population is mostly concentrated. This large number of people arriving in a new territory requires necessary but nevertheless constraining adjustments in terms of locality for refugees, since this decision is not theirs to make. Thus, the region of assignment directly determines individual prospects for the future, as cities experience an economic boom that villages don’t. 

The fate of some 46.1% of women refugees^[7]Ibid. is particularly impacted by these welcome conditions. Once women arrive in their country of refuge – in this case Turkey – they are faced with resistance directly linked to their gender, requiring them to be more tenacious as they integrate into their new society. During the process of migration, women and girls face specific problems because of their gender and their social status as women. Children, mainly dependent on women, condition Syrian women’s access to employment and integration into Turkish society. Programmes aimed at the empowerment of refugee women from Syria have been set up in this respect, involving Turkish civil society actors. By looking at migration through a gender lens, it is possible to understand the specificities of women in the process of assimilation into a new territory. One can therefore ask how the integration of Syrian women into Turkish society is conditioned by their gender.

Turkey, a land of hospitality for refugees?

Turkey’s migration policy has evolved cyclically in order to adapt to the Syrian crisis. However, it remains more favorable to men. Prior to the 1980s, migration in Turkey, a marginal and irregular phenomenon at the time, was limited to a Turkish-speaking minority^[8]PÉROUSE Jean-François, « Migrations, circulations et mobilités internationales à İstanbul In : Migrations et mobilités internationales : la plate-forme turque » [online], Istanbul : … Continue reading. Because of their linguistic advantage and Turkish culture, migrants enjoyed a form of ease in their integration into Turkish society^[9]LORTOĞLU Ceylan, “Suriyeli Mültecilerin “Misafir” Olma Haline Misafirperverlik Hukuku ve Etiği Acısından Bakış” [Analysis of Syrian immigrants in terms of hospitality laws and … Continue reading.

The first major migratory phenomena really started taking place in the 1980s, after the third coup d’état in Turkey, when the inhabitants of neighboring countries were forced to flee their region because of geopolitical upheavals such as the conflicts between Iraq and Iran or the dismantling of the USSR. It is in this context and because of its geostrategic position that Turkey has become a transit and host country for refugees^[10]Ibid..

In order to cope with these dense population movements, although Turkey has ratified the Geneva Convention relating to the Legal Status of Refugees, as well as successive protocols^[11]1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, only European refugees can benefit from legal refugee status^[12]According to Article 1. A of the 1951 Geneva Convention, a refugee is a person with a well-founded fear of being persecuted on the ground of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular … Continue reading. In other words, the Turkish state maintains geographical boundaries, and provides selective treatment for the granting of refugee status to individuals arriving on Turkish soil.

In 2011, a democratic popular uprising broke out in Syria, followed by a civil war. Turkey, which shares more than eight hundred kilometers of its border with Syria, was forced to become the first host territory for its migrants. In this particular context, and faced with the growing influx of Syrian populations, Turkey amended its legislation and adopted in 2013 the law Yabancılar ve Uluslararası Koruma Kanunu or law on foreigners and international protection. The content is crystal clear, and the Turkish State reiterates its stance when it comes to refugees: non-Europeans are “temporary refugees” and must reside temporarily in Turkey pending resettlement in another country.

It is through this law that the legal regime of temporary protection^[13]Article 91 of the Aliens and International Protection Act of 2013 appears, which grants access to some rights, such as access to healthcare or a work permit. However, the majority of applicants for these permits are male, thus leaving women in an economically uncertain situation. Indeed, the ambiguity of this status stems from the fact that the situation of refugees in Turkey is temporary, in accordance with the law and international conventions, therefore it appears complex to receive a permanent work permit and to settle down. While the application for temporary protection remains a laborious process, it is significantly more ch
allenging for women, who have to handle the household responsibilities as well as bear with gender-related problems as they try to assimilate into Turkish society.

Refugee status, observation of an economically precarious daily life

The Turkish state, by adapting its legislation for refugees, has allowed this population to reside and work in the country. However, there is a condition in order for them to benefit from these services; they are responsible for securing their identity papers. However, women often arrive in Turkey without their identity documents^[14]Asmin Ayçe İdil KAYA, “Türkiyeli Kadınlardan Mülteci Kadınlara: İyi ki Geldiniz Hoş Geldiniz” (We are glad you are here, welcome to our country), BIANET, 09/08/2019, available at: … Continue reading, as they may not have had access to them before arrival. This makes it more complicated for them to obtain temporary protection. When we consider the fact that they are often less fluent in Turkish^[15]Didem DANIŞ (Project Coordinator), İlhan Zeynep KARAKILIÇ, Lülüfer KÖRÜKMEZ, Cavidan SOYKAN, “Resilience, Work and Gender in the (Turkish) Migratory Context”, 01/03/2019, GAR (Association … Continue reading, we understand that it becomes more difficult for them to leave the often cramped and peripheral areas set up for refugees. Moreover, if they are able to work, they are mostly doing so in the informal sector, and are therefore less well paid, thus increasing inequalities between women and men.

Furthermore, the quota distribution plan for the population results in the development of an informal economy, outside the locations allocated by the government. According to a recent study^[16]Hilal SEVLÜ (2020). “ Gündelik Direniş Deneyimleri: Gaziantep’te Suriyeli Kadınlar. Toplumsal Cinsiyet Perspektifinden Türkiye’de Göç Araştırmaları”, Göç Araştırmaları Derneği … Continue reading, Syrian women, even though they are graduates, cannot work legally, wherever and whenever they want. This is why Syrians work mainly illegally, which in turn contributes to the development of irregular employment networks.

In addition to that, women’s working conditions are more difficult: they face greater precariousness, lack of social protection, all of this on top of often arduous work. They remain stuck working unskilled jobs paid at the lowest wages, i.e. in unstable situations. Gender-based discrimination increases social and economic inequalities within refugee populations, depriving women of access to work. However, Syrian women did not start working upon arrival in Turkey; since the war broke out, Syrian men have mainly been at the front line, and women’s only option was to work in order to make up for the loss of income. This helps explain why Syrian women accept jobs that few others would despite the arduousness of the tasks to be performed.

On the other hand, women accept jobs that few would endure despite the arduousness of the tasks to be performed. Hilal SEVLÜ, a Turkish sociologist, identified in a survey that the opening of pistachio nuts^[17]Ibid, the only possible activity for some women in Gaziantep, remains a job conditioned by the networks of Syrian women already working for these companies. Indeed, Turkish employers, in order to ensure that the work is well done, rely on the recommendations of former employees to hire new ones, thus increasing their exclusion from formal employment by restricting their opportunities of providing for their own economic needs.

These observations of the condition of Syrian women fall within the concept of “structural violence”^[18]PICKERING Sharon, “Women, Borders, and Violence: Current Issues in Asylum, Forced Migration and Trafficking”, 2011, Springer linked to gender, describing this situation in which women are victims of a particular degree of economic vulnerability and violence. They are, therefore, more vulnerable to sexual assault or forced marriage^[19]Didem Danış (Project Coordinator), İlhan Zeynep Karakılıç, Lülüfer Körükmez, Cavidan Soykan, “Resilience, Work and Gender in the (Turkish) Migratory Context”, 01/03/2019, GAR … Continue reading.

The cultural assimilation injunction for Syrian refugee women

Beyond the economic difficulties linked to the lack of access to the job market, women face additional gender-related challenges as they integrate into Turkish society. They suffer from gender bias and face social exclusion. To give just one gender-related example, the wearing of the headscarf^[20]SEVLÜ Hilal, “Gündelik Direniş Deneyimleri: Gaziantep’te Suriyeli Kadınlar. Toplumsal Cinsiyet Perspektifinden Türkiye’de Göç Araştırmaları”, 2020, Göç Araştırmaları Derneği … Continue reading is a subject of debate when it comes to assimilation into Turkish society. It is worn differently in Syria or Turkey, so women are faced with a dilemma. They can wear it in the Syrian style, leading them to being excluded by part of the local population, or on the contrary, they can choose to hide their origins by adopting the Turkish as part of their assimilation process in the host country.

Moreover, despite their willingness to integrate, obstacles still remain. The stereotypes about Syrian refugee women persist: they are said to have come to Turkey to steal the husbands of Turkish women. Such a prejudice is based on the conception of the nuclear family in Syria, allowing polygamy as a family framework. These pressure mechanisms affect the social and economic life of refugee women^[21]Ibid.. This is the result of “legal gender-based violence”^[22]KIVILCIM Zeynep, “Legal Violence Against Syrian Female Refugees in Turkey”, 2016, Fem Leg Stud 24, 193–214, available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10691-016-9323-y on the part of the Turkish state which is reflected through the inadequacy of the laws promulgated by the state regarding access to work for women, which increases the disparities in the employment of refugee women.

In this context, it is not surprising that women find themselves restricted to small social circles, particularly because of the fear of sexist and sexual aggression of all kinds that accompanies them at all times and in all areas of life^[23]PICKERING Sharon, “Women, Borders, and Violence: Current Issues in Asylum, Forced Migration and Trafficking”, 2011, Springer. As a result, this phenomenon increases their isolation, thus contributing to their greater vulnerability.

However, by continuing their inclusion in this new society, they contribute to changing the gender norms, thanks to their collective and feminine resilience^[24]DANIŞ Didem, KARAKILIÇ İlhan Zeynep, KÖRÜKMEZ Lülüfer, SOYKAN Cavidan, “Resilience, Work and Gender in the (Turkish) Migratory Context”, GAR (Association for Migration Research), 2-3, … Continue reading. In the face of the multiple obstacles they have to endure, they challenge the pre-existing patriarchal relations in Turkish and Syrian societies by undermining such gender patterns. Thus, they strive towards their emancipation through access to employment or leisure activities, for exampl
e, by joining a women’s choir featuring Turkish and Syrian songs. Indeed, while male domination is a serious obstacle to women’s empowerment, collectively they can lead to a deep sentiment of emancipatory solidarity. For example, women’s entrepreneurship networks are being established, thanks to the support of some Turkish women^[25]ATASÜ-TOPCUOĞLU Reyhan, “Syrian Refugee Entrepreneurship in Turkey: Integration and the Use of Immigrant Capital in the Informal Economy”, Social Inclusion 7.4 (2019): 200-10. Web..

Non-mixed feminism as a means of collective action for women’s empowerment

By placing the Syrian refugee woman in a social context, it is important to recall that her integration in Turkey is based on a supposed predisposition of women to be unable to work and to take care of the home naturally. It is therefore necessary to gradually implement specific solutions to gender-related problems, solutions developed in a dynamic of “intersectional feminism”^[26]AUCLAIR Isabelle, « L’analyse intersectionnelle du continuum des violences en situation de refuge : les discriminations en emploi. » Recherches féministes, book 30, 2nd edition, 2017, p. … Continue reading. This concept can be defined as the recognition of multiple factors of oppression and discrimination according to one’s identity, which is plural since it depends on gender, ethnicity or migrant generation^[27]BRAH Avtar et CLINI Clelia, « Discours et pratiques féministes contemporaines dans et hors des frontières », Genre, sexualité & société [Online], Special issue … Continue reading.

Despite there being multiple identities and different nationalities, it is possible to build solidarity based on their common life experience as women. This is why it is necessary to base their assimilation into Turkish society on existing groups of NGOs or associations, networks of material and psychological support, where their initiatives are socially and economically valued. This is why the committed Turkish civil society is constantly working to put in place forums, associations or living spaces where Turkish and/or Syrian women can meet to exchange, learn and work. In 2019, the women’s forum Yoğurtçu, a committee meeting every week, devoted one of its workshops to the topic of welcoming refugee women in Turkey^[28]KAYA Asmin Ayçe İdil, “Türkiyeli Kadınlardan Mülteci Kadınlara: İyi ki Geldiniz Hoş Geldiniz” (We are glad you are here, welcome to our country), BIANET, 09/08/2019, available at: … Continue reading. They stress the importance of the individual help that should be provided to each Syrian woman, with the aim of achieving a project of solidarity between all of them. In the reception centers, initiatives such as legal and psychological counselling and professional activities have been implement with the goal of supporting the empowerment of Syrian women^[29]HANBAY ÇAKIR Ebru, KARABACAK Huriye, « Mülteci kadinlara yönelik toplumsal cinsiyet temelli ayrimcilik ve şiddetle mücadele » (Gender-based Discrimination and Combating Violence … Continue reading.

Women arriving in Turkey may have experienced a difficult migratory journey and have witnessed many significant incidents and may therefore be more reluctant to express themselves in mixed environments due to their own cultural structures. This is why, according to Ezgi SEVİNÇ, it is important to promote non-mixed empowerment initiatives^[30]Testimony of SEVİNÇ Ezgi, involved in the International Migrant Women Solidarity Association in Istanbul..

Thus, despite the obstacles, Syrian women continue to challenge the power relations between genders and, with the support of other women, can hope to pass on their professional and personal empowerment initiatives for greater stability for the future of the next generation.

Conclusion

Addressing the gender issue through the lens of migration highlights the fact that Syrian women’s paths of assimilation into Turkish society depend on their status as women from the moment they arrive in their host country. They are agents of change for the gender norms within their family and Syrian and Turkish societies. The temporary and ambiguous refugee status remains a considerable obstacle to the assimilation of Syrian women into their host country, which is why the work of associations is fundamental to reduce the existing prejudices about these women.

The objective of non-mixing allows for a greater understanding of individual needs, highlighting collective discrimination experienced as women, in order to pass on their female resilience to the next generation. However, it remains difficult to know what happens to women who are not legally registered, and those who do not have access to the type of help and support provided by associations or NGOs.

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To cite this article: Marie PELE, “Syrian refugee women in Turkey: a gendered integration process”, 27.12.2020, Gender in Geopolitics Institute