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ABSTRACT
This paper aims to investigate the Afghan-Turkish-European region migration system in light of migration system theory, which provides a comprehensive framework by asking the question of how a set of linkages including some macro-, meso- and micro-level variables relate to the larger context of migratory settings. Relating the roles of various structures, institutions and networks to the operation of the social, political and economic relationships, it seeks to analyze the dynamics of Afghan migration heading to Turkey and Europe in a historically contextualized way. The paper argues that one must focus on the root causes of flows, which are related to the presence of fragility of the Afghan state together with the continuation of flows via networks enabling the maintenance of migrants’ links to home, transit and destination countries.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Note on contributors
Ahmet İçduygu is Dean of the College of Social Sciences and Humanities at Koç University, Istanbul Turkey. He currently holds a dual appointment as a full professor at Koç, in both the Department of International Relations and in the Department of Sociology. He is also the Director of the Migration Research Center at Koç (MiReKoc). He holds a PhD in Demography from the Australian National University. He is an elected member of the Science Academy in Turkey. In addition to his own individual research projects, Professor İçduygu has conducted various research projects for the international organizations such as IOM, UNHCR, EU, OECD and ILO. He teaches on migration studies, theories and practices of citizenship, international organizations, civil society, nationalism and ethnicity, and research methods.
Sibel Karadağ is a PhD researcher in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Koç University. She received her BA in Social and Political Science from Sabancı University in 2010; MA in European Studies from Sabancı University in 2012; and Msc. in Social Policy from London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) in 2012. She is also a researcher at Migration Research Center at Koç (MiReKoc). Her research areas are migration and border studies, critical security studies, globalization and transnational processes, social and political theory.
Notes
1 Stanzel, “Eternally Displaced,” 2.
2 “If You Think”, and Schuster, “Turning Refugees,” 1392–93.
3 Schmeidl, “(Human) Security Dilemmas,” 8; and Schmeidl, “Protracted Displacement in Afghanistan.”
4 Figures provided by UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, see website http://www.unhcr.org/). This figure refers to the number of asylum seekers accepted under 1951 Convention, so it excludes the mass number of Syrian refugees under temporary protection.
5 Concerning the rising debates on Afghans in Turkey, see “Thousands of Afghan Migrants” and “Afghan Refugees in Turkey.”
6 This study makes use of numerous sources of information obtained by the long-term fieldwork experiences of Ahmet İçduygu and the publications of International Organization for Migration (IOM) over the last two decades on transit migration in Turkey and the primary and secondary analysis of data used in the reports prepared by İçduygu, Irregular Migration in Turkey, and İçduygu and Aksel, Irregular Migration in Turkey.
7 Migdal, Strong Societies; O’Donnell and Philippe, Transitions from Authoritarian Rule; and Zakaria, “The Rise of Illiberal Democracy.”
8 See Foreign Policy Journal Indicators.
9 Donini, et al., “Nation-Building Unraveled?,” 313.
10 Goodhand and Sedra, The Afghan Conundrum; and Schmeidl, “Protracted Displacement in Afghanistan.”
11 Schmeidl, “Protracted Displacement in Afghanistan”; and Schmeidl, “(Human) Security Dilemmas,” 10.
12 Schmeidl, “Protracted Displacement in Afghanistan.”
13 Colville, “The Biggest Caseload,” 6.
14 Ibid., 7.
15 Schmeidl, “(Human) Security Dilemmas.”
16 Ibid.
17 Margesson, CRS Report for Congress, 2.
18 Schmeidl, “Protracted Displacement in Afghanistan”; and Schmeidl, “(Human) Security Dilemmas,” 5.
19 “Afghanistan Profile –Timeline.”
20 Ibid.
21 Bakewell, “Some Reflections.”
22 Fawcett, “Networks,” 671–80.
23 İçduygu and Yükseker, “Rethinking Transit Migration.”
24 Fawcett and Arnold, “Explaining Diversity”; and Kritz et al., International Migration Systems, 6.
25 Kritz et al., International Migration Systems, 5–10.
26 Mabogunje, “Systems Approach,” 1–18.
27 Portes and Böröcz, “Contemporary Immigration,” 606–30; and Kritz et al., International Migration Systems.
28 Kritz et al., International Migration Systems, 139.
29 Faist, The Volume and Dynamics, 300.
30 Afghanistan and Turkey began to enjoy warm relations in the early 20th century due to their strong cultural and historical connections. For instance, the two countries signed the Turkey-Afghanistan Alliance Agreement on 1 March 1921 in Moscow, the first official agreement between the two states. After sixteen years, Afghanistan and Turkey were two of the parties to Saadabad (Nonaggression) Pact that was signed on July 8, 1937. See Doğan, “Turkey’s Presence,” 367–70.
31 Milliyet, 28 October, 1982.
32 İçduygu, “Transit Migrants and Turkey”; and İçduygu, “The Politics of International Migratory Regimes.”
33 İçduygu, “Transit Migrants and Turkey.”
34 Please see figures provided by UNHCR and FRONTEX (European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders of the Member States of the European Union).
35 These figures have been compiled by Ahmet İçduygu for his annual reports (with the internationally known abbreviation, SOPEMI) to the OECD.
36 Doğan, “Turkey’s Presence,” 367–70.
37 Ibid.
38 See the webpage of UNHCR in Ankara http://www.unhcr.org/turkey.html.
39 Figure obtained from Population Registration System (ADNKS) of the Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK).
40 Öztürk, Türk Asıllı Afgan, 71–76.
41 “Afghanistan’s Refugees: The Politics of Fear and Hope.”
42 Kirişci, “UNHCR and Turkey.”
43 See “Turkey ‘Safe Country’ Sham”; and “EU’s Reckless Refugee Returns”.
44 See “Thousands of Afghan Migrants”; and “Afghan Refugees in Turkey.”
45 Monsutti, “Afghan Migratory Strategies.”
46 “If You Think”; and Schuster, “Turning Refugees,” 1392–93.
47 These figures have been compiled by Ahmet İçduygu from the OECD migration databank.
48 İçduygu, Irregular Migration in Turkey.
49 These figures have been compiled by Ahmet İçduygu from FRONTEX.
50 Bauböck, Migration and Citizenship; and Bauböck, From Aliens to Students.
51 These figures have been compiled by Ahmet İçduygu from the OECD migration databank.
52 See “Thousands of Afghan Migrants” and “Afghan refugees in Turkey.”
53 Where some official figures are available, they show around 500,000. Estimates provided by the community leaders put the figure at over one million. Based on the OECD data, the top five European countries with the largest Afghan migrant communities are Germany (around 180,000), the United Kingdom (100,000), the Netherlands (75,000), France (60,000) and Austria (50,000). One must note that Afghan communities in Europe, similar to those elsewhere, are subject to highly dynamic demographic changes mainly due to various types of migratory flows. For instance, as noted earlier, flows of asylum seekers and irregular migrants are the main determinants that contribute to the changes in the size of Afghan communities, and because of the very nature of these flows, it is rather hard to quantify these changes, and to offer reliable figures. Along these lines, it is important to note that the Afghan communities in Europe are in the making. In particular, most recently there are exceptionally unique mass movements of Afghan asylum seekers and irregular migrants to Europe, the number of Afghan asylum seekers who entered Europe in the period of 1990–2015 is nearly 540,000, but nearly 258,000, or 48 percent, arrived in the continent only in the last three years.
54 For further discussion, see Ozcurumez, “Immigrant Associations in Canada.”