A sociologial study on survival strategies of Syrians at the temporary protected status: Şanlıurfa sample

This study investigated the case of those who migrated to Turkey after the civil war in Syria in 2011 in terms of social, cultural, and economic effects and transformations in host society. In addition, the concepts of tactic and strategy which Michel de Certeau used to explain daily life practices seen as a means to analysis groups or individual who emigrate from Syria to Turkey and try to developed different resistance form and daily life strategies. Furthermore, the types of migration, tendency, drivers and attractive reason of migration and of course the consequences of migration are discussed in terms of migration theories. The study also allows us to see immigration policies and legislation process in Turkey. In this study, daily life experiences of the individuals and groups who emigrated from Syria are examined to understand the way they establish their own life against the dominant or sovereign culture and power and the local people. In this study, the spatial experiences of the groups migrating from Syria were discussed through Pierre Bourdieu‟s concepts of habitus and struggle. The interview questions of the study were prepared considering the impact of migration on every existing field. Qualitative research methods and techniques were used in the interviews. A snowball sample was applied to reach the participants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of 30 participants: 5 Arab women, 5 Arab men, 5 Kurdish women, 5 Kurdish men, 5 Yazidi women and 5 Yazidi men in Sanlıurfa City Center and districts. The qualitative data such as the stories of migrant, what kind of problems they had in coming country, the strategies developed to cope with those problems, the issue of whether they will stay permanently or temporarily, spatial concentration, the effect of transformation of migration were collected and analyzed. Key Words: Asylum Seeker, Habitus, Migration, Temporary Protection Status, Strategy, Vulnerablity