MSU Sociology PhD candidate publishes research on Syrian refugees

March 6, 2025

Ezgi Karaoğlu, together with Dr. Stephanie Nawyn, published "Self-settlement and the Challenges of Local Integration of Syrians in the Absence of Government Support" in the journal Refugee Survey Quarterly.

Their work examined the experience of middle-class Syrians in their efforts to establish settled lives in Istanbul after the ending of Syrian resettlement programs.

"They navigated numerous daily and routine challenges related to identity, language acquisition, residential choices, and entitlement to citizenship. They did all this without support or guidance from formal government policies," the authors wrote.

The refugees either became an expat, "still foreign but more elite than a refugee" or they became "like a Turk" and included more engagement with the host community.

"These findings offer insights into the complex process of belonging, visibility, and the interplay of identities within an urban context, and highlight the challenges refugees face when governments fail to support resettlement or local integration," they wrote.