Siria

In der zweiten Hälfte des Jahres 2015 erlebte Deutschland einen dramatischen Anstieg im Zuzug von Flüchtlingen, der sich insbesondere durch den Konflikt in der Arabischen Republik Syrien speiste. Mit mehr als einer Million Hilfesuchender im Jahr 2015 ist dieser Massenzustrom von Flüchtlingen nach Deutschland der größte seiner Art seit den frühen 1990er Jahren. Die Unterbringung und Versorgung dieser Flüchtlinge stellt Deutschland vor eine Reihe von Herausforderungen, sowohl aus wirtschaftlicher, als auch politischer, sozialer und juristischer Sicht. Die Unterbringung und Integration von Flüchtlingen belastet die öffentlichen Haushalte, sozialen Wohlfahrtsysteme, das Bildungssystem sowie die Immobilien? und Arbeitsmärkte und sie wirft Fragen auf hinsichtlich des sozialen und politischen Zusammenhalts im Land, der Sicherheit und Kriminalität sowie zwischenstaatlicher Regelungen für eine faire Verteilung von Flüchtlingen. Aufgrund der Aktualität der Ereignisse mangelt es jedoch an (mitunter grundlegendsten) Daten zu diesem Massenzustrom an Flüchtlingen nach Deutschland. Auch ist empirische Evidenz zu den Auswirkungen dieses Zustroms bis dato kaum vorhanden. Folglich ist der Wissenstand darüber, wie dieser Zustrom die Gesellschaft in Deutschland, die Innenpolitik und die Wirtschaft beeinflusste sehr gering. Dies gilt insbesondere auch für die Frage, wie dieser Einfluss auf regionaler Ebene von wirtschaftlichen Faktoren und der Verteilung und Unterbringung von Flüchtlingen durch staatliche Behörden beeinflusst wurde. In diesem Forschungsprojekt untersuchen wir diese Frage indem wir die Auswirkungen des Massenzustroms an Flüchtlingen nach Deutschland in vier Kernbereichen analysieren: (1) Wahlergebnisse, (2) Immobilienmärkte, (3) Gewalt gegen Ausländer und Kriminalität durch Ausländer, sowie (4) Spendenverhalten, sowohl monetär als auch in Form von Gütern und Freiwilligendiensten.

This research project in Human Geography aims at understanding the spatial and social dynamics of the Syrian conflict (from 2011 onwards). It focuses particularly on the local dimension of both the dynamics of the uprising, the political mobilisations, and the militarisation of the conflict, as well as on the different types of local networks and local organisations and forms of governance that developed since. Looking at the dynamics of the current crisis ‘from the ground’ helps indeed our understanding of the current spatial and social reorganisations. The territorial fragmentation experienced nowadays in Syria, which is in part an effect of the logics of the repression and warfare tactics of the Asad regime, bears profound and long-term effects on the Syrian society. In addition, in 2014, nearly half of the Syrian population is displaced, having either taking shelter outside Syria (refugees, registered or not) or in Syria (Internally Displaced Persons). The scope of destruction is high, questioning the ways in which people can return, if ever, one day. Therefore, Syria faces massive changes both in its social and its territorial fabrics, in the short-term as well as in the foreseen future. Structural changes and challenges may affect its the neighbouring countries too. The objective of this research programme is to explore the territorial and ‘social’ changes that occurred in Syria since 2011, based on local contexts and focusing on local situations: the interrelated movements of people (IDPs and refugees), logics and impacts of destructions, and local dynamics of warfare. This research, based on the collection of local data (through interviews with people inside Syria (through skype) and refugees outside, information collected through social networks, or open data – newspaper, reports from NGOs, International agencies, satellite images), will also lead to the production of original maps, at different scales.

Whenever extreme climatic events occur, such as the earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria in February 2023, attention is focused on the primary event. Often we forget that real problems begin later. In Turkey and Syria it was no different. Lack of services, starting with those aimed at the weakest minor and elderly, problems in reconstruction, diseases, total absence of networks (electric, water, sewage, road, etc.). Not to mention the damage to the economy. These are just some of the problems that make it difficult for survivors to return to normal life. Very often finding and recognizing corpses is not easy. They are secondary emergencies. A topic that we never talk about. But that, as they are demonstrating in Turkey and Syria, show that unpreparedness to extreme events can have devastating effects even months or years after the primary emergency has occurred.

Résumé La Syrie, comme les autres pays du Moyen Orient, découvre la nécessité de comprendre l'enjeu que représente la migration vers le pays et à partir de celui-ci. C'est à travers les divers textes de lois que cet enjeu se dessine, même si l'absence de statistiques claires en la matière ne permet pas une bonne compréhension de la situation migratoire.Les textes de loi qui réglementent l'émigration syrienne sont éparpillés entre plusieurs branches : droit constitutionnel, droit administratif, code de la famille, etc. et entre plusieurs sources : la constitution, les lois, décrets présidentiels, arrêtés ministériels, sans oublier les conventions multilatérales et bilatérales qui touchent aux droits des émigrés et auxquelles la Syrie est partie. On note l’absence en Syrie d'une loi générale sur la migration, qui prendrait en compte toutes les formes du phénomène : permanente, temporaire, masculine et féminine.Par ailleurs, les étrangers se trouvant en Syrie par centaines de milliers sont en majorité des réfugiés. Certains travaillent, le travail des domestiques étrangères étant dominant. Les dispositions juridiques réglementant le séjour ou le travail des étrangers en Syrie se trouvent également dans diverses sources, la constitution, le droit du travail, les circulaires et arrêtés administratifs. Abstract Syria, like other countries in the Middle East, is discovering the need to get to grips with the migration stakes to and from the territory. These stakes are there in the various legal texts, even if the lack of clear statistics in this field does not enable a good understanding of the migratory situation.The legal texts ruling Syrian emigration are divided among several fields, constitutional law, administrative law, family law, etc. These texts lie in the constitution, laws, presidential decrees, ministerial decisions, as well as in multilateral and bilateral conventions, which Syria has ratified, affecting the rights of emigrants that Syria. No general law on migration has been adopted in Syria addressing all forms of it : permanent, circular, male and female,…Besides, most of the hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals in Syria are refugees. Some of them work as domestics. The legal provisions for foreign nationals to stay and to work in Syria are also to be found in various sources including the constitution, the labour code and administrative decisions.

Die Studie „Wellcome“ erforscht aus einer quantiativen Perspektive die aktuelle Lebenssituation junger (Flucht-)Migranten aus Syrien und deren Eingliederungsprozess in Deutschland. Die Studie erweitert das IAB Projekt 1671 (Youth unemployment, mental health, and labor market outcomes) um eine Aufstockungsstichprobe junger (Flucht-) Migranten aus Syrien. Dazu wurden in 2016 erstmals 2.700 junger Fluchtmigranten aus Syrien im Alter von 18-24 Jahren unmittelbar nach dem Eintritt in die BA-Register erfolgreich mündlich bzw. online befragt. Anfang 2017 sowie 2017/18 wurde die Population erneut erfolgreich mit einer Kurzbefragung kontaktiert. Bei dem Projekt steht der Integrationsprozess junger Syrer in Bildung und Beschäftigung in Deutschland im Mittelpunkt des Analyseinteresses. Besondere Berücksichtigung findet auch die erste Lebensphase, die diese Personen in Syrien verlebt haben und der damit verbundenen Bildungserwerb oder das soziale und kulturelle Kapital, das im Herkunftsland erworben wurde. Die soziale Herkunft wird differenziert erfasst. Weiterhin wird der Weg nach Deutschland erfasst. Dazu werden Informationen zum Fluchtmotive bzw. -verlauf oder zu traumatischen Erlebnissen im Kontext der Migration erhoben. 96% der Erstbefragten haben ihre Zustimmung zu einer Verknüpfung mit den Registerdaten der BA erteilt. Die Verknüpfung beider Datenquellen erlaubt ein Weiterverfolgen der Bildungs- und Arbeitsmarktintegration dieser Personen in Deutschland. Die Verknüpfung von Surveydaten und Registerdaten liefert eine wichtige Datengrundlage für längerfristige Analysen zum Bildungs- und Erwerbsverlauf dieser jungen Menschen. Weiterhin wurde mit der Ersterhebung eine epidemiologische Erfassung der insbesondere seelischen Gesundheit durchgeführt. In den Wiederholungsbefragungen wurde der gesundheitliche Verlauf weiterverfolgt. Dies wird die Grundlage für künftige Analysen zum Verlauf von (seelischer) Gesundheit und der Verarbeitung von Trauma-Erfahrung sowie für Analysen zum Einfluss von (seelischer) Gesundheit auf den Prozess der Integration in Bildung und Beschäftigung bilden. Projektmethode empirisch quantitative Befragung, Verknüfung mit IAB-Prozessdaten; Verlaufs- und Verbleibsanalysen; Analysen zu Survey-Methodologie bei Migranten Projektziel Informationen zur Integration junger Fluchtmigranten in Bildung und Beschäftigung in Deutschland

While extremely graphic images from the Syrian civil war appearing at the world media, smiling young Kurdish female guerrillas at the cover of magazines such as Elle, Marie Claire presented another picture. Kurdish fighters have become driving forces in offensives against ISIS and gained worldwide news coverage. However, the story of the Kurds in Syria is more than this. The Kurds who had been deprived of their fundamental national rights, including the citizenship had no status in Syria. With the collapse of the central state, they carved out three enclaves, named them Cantons and declared a de facto autonomous region in northern Syria. So, rather than talking about the ‘jihad’, as most of the other rebels did; they engaged in creating a self-governing model based on this area, called Rojava in Kurdish. That model based on criticizing the existing nation-states in the region promoted the equality between different (ethnic/religious) groups, advocated the empowerment of women and functioned on the bottom-up constructed local councils as the main sites of governance. This project which looks at how alternative spaces of governance are created investigates the emergence of that model in that autonomous region, tracing back to its ‘founding ideas’ and also look at the influence of the self-governing experience of the Kurds in Syria on the Kurds in Turkey and Iraq. So it aims to contribute to the understanding of the behaviour of the groups in a civil war and of the possibilities in creating a successful transition to a post-war context. In doing this, it aims at bringing the different perspectives and scales into the same analysis. Furthermore, the project aims to connect discussions of place making and constitutive politics with that of social movements.

Since 2012, over 4 million people have fled Syria in ‘the most dramatic humanitarian crisis that we have ever faced’ (UNHCR). By November 2015 there were 1,078,338 refugees from Syria in Lebanon, 630,776 in Jordan and 2,181,293 in Turkey. Humanitarian agencies and donor states from both the global North and the global South have funded and implemented aid programmes, and yet commentators have argued that civil society groups from the global South are the most significant actors supporting refugees in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey. Whilst they are highly significant responses, however, major gaps in knowledge remain regarding the motivations, nature and implications of Southern-led responses to conflict-induced displacement. This project draws on multi-sited ethnographic and participatory research with refugees from Syria and their aid providers in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey to critically examine why, how and with what effect actors from the South have responded to the displacement of refugees from Syria. The main research aims are: 1. identifying diverse models of Southern-led responses to conflict-induced displacement, 2. examining the (un)official motivations, nature and implications of Southern-led responses, 3. examining refugees’ experiences and perceptions of Southern-led responses, 4. exploring diverse Southern and Northern actors’ perceptions of Southern-led responses, 5. tracing the implications of Southern-led initiatives for humanitarian theory and practice. Based on a critical theoretical framework inspired by post-colonial and feminist approaches, the project contributes to theories of humanitarianism and debates regarding donor-recipient relations and refugees’ agency in displacement situations. It will also inform the development of policies to most appropriately address refugees’ needs and rights. This highly topical and innovative project thus has far-reaching implications for refugees and local communities, academics, policy-makers and practitioners.

Portal providing refugee situations over 69 countries. Currently there are 15 active situation views, from which 3 "featured". Featured situations: - Syria Regional Refugee Response - Refugees/Migrants Emergency Response - Mediterranean - Mozambique situation

“Internal Migration in Syria” presents the main findings of the Syria Internal Migration Survey (SIMS). The report looks at migration flows within and across provinces, and between rural and urban areas. Particular efforts have been made to investigate the claim that population movement from rural areas to Damascus and other provincial cities has diminished and that “reverse migration”, i.e. movement from cities to rural areas, and from provincial cities to other cities and towns has been taking place. In addition to examining the volume and patterns of internal migration, the report describes the socio-economic characteristics of migrants, examines the reasons for spatial movement, studies the use of remittances from migrants, and analyses the social integration of migrants at their places of destination. Furthermore, it looks at temporary, seasonal migration and peoples’ intentions to move in the future. The SIMS is a joint project between the University of Damascus, the Syrian Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) and Fafo Institute for Applied International Studies (Fafo). Data were collected during the second quarter of 2000. Interviews with more than 20,000 families were successfully completed. In addition to this report, two publications (a Tabulation report and an Analytical report), written in Arabic by the SIMS research teams from the University of Damascus and the CBS, have been published by the University of Damascus.

The article seeks to deepen the understanding and analysis around reconstruction dynamics. In this perspective, the economic policies of the Syrian government in the decade prior to the uprising are analysed. The paper then examines how the war transformed the political economy of Syria by considering the effects of destruction on the country’s economic structure. Finally, the article observes the possible scenarios and prospects based on the conflict’s current dynamics to consider new lines of research in the near future in relation to the topic of the war economy and the reconstruction process. Just as the war and its destruction have been used by the regime to intensify neoliberal policies and secure further political power, the way that reconstruction is shaped is another opportunity by which those in power will seek to extend their political and economic domination of Syria.

This paper provides a general overview of Syrian migration. Migration in Syria has been particularly affected by the economic and socio-political environment in the region. Figures for Syrian emigrants vary widely because of the lack of available data and because too of the different methodologies employed in measurement; they range from between about one million and fifteen million. Arab countries are the main destination for Syrian emigrants, especially for those who engage in circular migration. Remittances sent by emigrants to their families seem to play a growing role in the Syrian economy: their contribution to GDP increased from less than 1% in 2000 to about 5% in 2009. The number of immigrants in Syria can be more accurately gauged than the number of emigrants given that more than 90% of these are refugees who are monitored and tracked by the government and international organizations. The number of refugees in Syria was estimated at around 1.4 million in 2009; the majority were Iraqis followed by Palestinians with a small minority from other nationalities. About 10% of Iraqi refugees were subject to resettlement in third countries. The remaining immigrants are workers who could be divided into two groups; the first including highly-skilled employees, while the second and larger group is made up of domestic workers coming from southeast Asian countries. Laws and regulations that are related to migration in Syria focus on organizing and controlling immigrants’ inflow and encouraging emigrants to invest in the country. Résumé Cet article livre un panorama général du phénomène migratoire en Syrie encore récemment encouragé par les conditions éco-socio-politiques enlisant l’ensemble de la région. Il reste que, toutefois, de grands écarts de mesure de l’émigration syrienne se creusent – tenant à la fois au peu de données disponibles, et à des méthodes de recensement différentes : cette estimation repose, en effet, sur un écart allant de un à quinze millions d’émigrés. Les pays arabes représentent la principale destination de l’émigration syrienne, en particulier s’agissant des candidats investis dans un parcours migratoire circulaire. En outre, la contribution croissante des envois de fond – transférés par les émigrés à leurs familles – dans l’économie syrienne est forte à souligner, avec une proportion dans le PNB s’élevant de moins de 1% en 2000 à environ 5% en 2009. S’agissant de l’immigration en Syrie, le nombre d’immigrés enregistré sur le territoire est plus aisément recensable par comparaison avec le nombre d’émigrants, dans la mesure essentielle où plus de 90% des immigrés sont à la fois couverts par le statut de réfugiés, et recensés et suivis comme tels par le gouvernement et les organisations internationales. Il en ressort que le nombre de réfugiés en Syrie a été estimé, au titre de l’année 2009, à hauteur de 1.4 millions d’individus ; la majorité est constituée d’Irakiens, suivie par des Palestiniens et par une minorité plus restreinte constituée de diverses nationalités. Néanmoins, près de 10% des réfugiés irakiens ont été sujet à une réinstallation dans des pays tiers. Le segment restant de la population immigrée est constitué de travailleurs, classe subdivisée en deux catégories : la première catégorie compte parmi ses rangs des employés hautement qualifiés, alors que la seconde – plus largement constituée – comprend essentiellement des travailleurs domestiques issus des pays de l’Asie du Sud-est. Les lois et règlements portant sur la migration tels qu’en vigueur en Syrie mettent surtout l’accent sur l’organisation et le contrôle des flux d’immigration, et la promotion des investissements versés dans le pays par les émigrés.

La Syrie a connu depuis le début du XXème siècle des vagues d’émigration successives, vers les Amériques, puis vers l’Europe. Ce phénomène s’est poursuivi jusqu’à aujourd’hui et continue à avoir d’importantes conséquences sur le plan économique et social, et surtout sur le développement scientifique et l’avancée de la recherche en Syrie. L’émigration ne draine plus seulement des travailleurs peu qualifiés mais également des individus titulaires d’un diplôme universitaire dits hautement qualifiés. Certes, ce phénomène a des retombées positives, comme les transferts de devises depuis l’étranger qui apportent un soutien non négligeable aux familles syriennes. Il contribue également au rayonnement de la Syrie à l’étranger. Toutefois, il représente aussi un appauvrissement dans certains secteurs qui ne parviennent pas à se développer du fait de la pénurie de travailleurs hautement qualifiés. Pour la Syrie, l’émigration hautement qualifiée apparaît donc comme une arme à double tranchant. La législation syrienne ne met pas d’entrave à la circulation de ses citoyens. Elle ne pose notamment pas de conditions pour limiter leur émigration, même si des initiatives ont été prises au cours des dix dernières années pour encadrer les émigrés syriens, et stimuler les liens qu’ils entretiennent avec leur pays d’origine. Malgré les besoins dans certains secteurs, la Syrie n’est pas une destination pour l’immigration hautement qualifiée, sans doute en raison des bas salaires, comparés à ceux perçus dans les pays de Golfe. Since the early twentieth century, Syria has experienced successive emigration waves, to America then to Europe. Emigration is ongoing and has important social and economic consequences, above all for scientific development and research in Syria. Emigration not only concerns unqualified or under-qualified workers, but also highly-qualified individuals. This phenomenon has obviously positive aspects : for example financial remittances which constitute an important resource for Syrian families, or migrants’ contribution to Syria’s profile abroad. Yet, migration is also harmful in some sectors that cannot develop without highly-skilled persons. Syrian legislation does not prevent citizens migrating, but Syria has attempted in the last ten years to channel Syrian emigrants, and to foster their link with their country of origin.In spite of needs in some fields, Syria is not a destination country for highly-skilled migrants, arguably because of low wages relative to the Gulf countries.