GAR Blog: The Intersections of Migration and the City: Some Thoughts on Workshop
GAR Blog
The Intersections of Migration and the City: Some Thoughts on Workshop*
Şevval Sude Şimşek**
December 4, 2023
The workshop titled Migration and Arrival in Turkey: Urban and Spatial Approaches was held on September 30, 2023 in Istanbul, in partnership with SU Gender and Migration Research Association and with the financial support of the EU Horizon 2020 project ReROOT: Arrival Infrastructures as Sites of Integration for Newcomers. The workshop addressed migration from an urban perspective, focusing particularly on arrival areas and national and urban integration policies. The presentations convened around case studies in Turkey, which offered many examples in this context.
The workshop consisted of twelve presentations in total and focused on the intersections of migration and city/urban studies. The prominent concept “arrival infrastructures” was at the fore of the first session of the workshop. Arrival infrastructures, which include areas that facilitate the arrival of migrants and social venues such as language schools, places of worship, cafes, restaurants, and hairdressers, were examined through local examples such as Istanbul Fatih and Izmir Basmane. Kristen Biehl, Marhabo Saparova, Feriha Nazda Güngördü, Cansu Akbaş Demirel and İbrahim Soysüren, who presented in this session, pointed out that the arrival infrastructures, on the one hand, assembled migrants in certain points of the city, and on the other hand, the diversity arising from this density and the flow of products and information became an important factor in the dispersal of migrants to different parts of the city in the future. The presenters underlined how various characteristics of arrival cities played a significant role in the experiences of migrants. For instance, Basmane is recognized as the first point of arrival for migrants in Izmir, as well as a transit city and a gateway to Europe. As a result, there are diverse types of migrants dwelling in the city. Migrants and their migration experiences are also greatly affected by political and social events. The impacts of the May 2023 elections on the perceptions about migrants or the repercussions of such extraordinary situations like the pandemic, that affected borders, on the uncertainty of migrants’ circumstances were emphasized.
The second session of the workshop proceeded on the theme of arrival networks and solidarity spaces. Sociologist Mahmut Kaya from Harran University, in his presentation, examined the impact of the religious identity of cities and religious networks on migrant behavior in the context of Şanlıurfa. He drew attention to the unique religious characteristics of the city, its conservative structure, and its ethnic and historical closeness with migrants’ country of origin and mentioned that these features play a role in many migrants’ choices of Şanlıurfa as their arrival city. Then, Semih Nargül from Van 100. Yıl University made a presentation on the "veiled visibility" of Afghan refugees in Van. In parallel with the first presentation, the impact of the unique social and geographical structure of the city on the decision-making mechanisms of migrants was emphasized. Nargül stated that the city of Van gained different meanings as a transit point on the route of migrants and an intermediate station of indefinite duration due to its location at the border. In this context, Afghan immigrants exhibited "veiled" visibility in the city due to factors such as limited access to international protection status, illegal commercial networks established among immigrants, various rivalry/hostility relations, and fear of deportation. In the last presentation of the session, Cosimo Pica discussed the formation called Tarlabaşı Solidarity, which aims to respond to the needs of those in difficult situations, to unite marginalized groups, and to increase solidarity among the locals of the district. The network was established against the increasing fragility and exclusion of certain local groups in Tarlabaşı after the urban transformation. In this context, solidarity networks were also considered as an arrival infrastructure.
The third session concentrated on arrival in conditions of impermanence and various vulnerabilities. First, it focused on the arrival process and experiences of Ukrainian migrants in Vienna, the largest displaced group in Europe after the Second World War. In addition, the impact of Austria's unique status and historical heritage on Ukrainian displaced migrants with temporary protection status and the important but fragile role played by civil society in the arrival of this group in Vienna were touched upon. Although this case was outside the context of Turkey, the recent mass Ukrainian migration and the experiences of Ukrainian migrants arriving in Vienna paralleled the examples in Turkey and complemented the workshop. This presentation was followed by a presentation by Kristen Biehl and Didem Danış, who discussed the secondary displacement of refugees after the Turkey-Syria earthquakes as an example of post-disaster mobility. The presentation discussed how refugees, who have just survived a migration process experience a secondary displacement, face problems such as uncertainty, exclusion, and invisibility and highlighted the increasing fragility, hopelessness, and loss of trust within the group. The last presentation of the session was on queer refugees in Turkey. Meriç Çağlar stated that solidarity, which is of great importance in a context where sexual orientation has become a separate vulnerability criterion after gender, is negatively affected by the differences in status and nationality among queer refugees. Meriç Çağlar also underlined that the location of the provinces where queer refugees are mostly registered, even if they have temporary protection, are far from the main solidarity networks.
The last session focused on the affective dimension of displacement. In the first presentation, through the testimonies of Afghan refugees who do not have any status in Turkey, Alexander Ephrussi explained how senses, as a tool, guide migrants in urban areas. He drew attention to the strategies and emotions with which this group responded to the recently increased control and restrictions, and the increasing paranoia, urge to hide, and fatalism within the group. In the last presentation, Francesco Pasta discussed the felt or unfelt sense of belonging to the arrival destination. He pointed out how the intermediate spaces that emerged with the urban transformation in Fikirtepe gained new meanings in the existence of migrants. While pointing out that this sense of belonging also has a class dimension, he stated that integration, which has an important place in belonging, can also be evaluated within the framework of performative practices that Butler examines through the context of gender.
The workshop, which consisted of four panels, provided the audience the opportunity to discover the phenomenon of migration, which is becoming more prominent with the influence of current social and political events, and various dimensions of the relationship between migration and the city, with the presentations by competent academics and the discussion environment created. Throughout the workshop, various local and international examples focusing on different dimensions of migration, migrants, and the city managed to provide a comprehensive framework on the subject and reminded the need for new studies in this field.
* The ideas and opinions expressed in GAR Blog publications are those of the authors; they do not reflect those of the Association for Migration Research.
** Şevval Sude Şimşek is a GAR intern and a student at Galatasaray University, Department of Sociology.