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Syrian Refugees, Bureaucracy, and Inclusion
Morgan Etzel
Bristol University Press
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| Anerkannte Flüchtlinge | Recognized refugees according to asylum law § 60 Abs. 1 Aufenth G. |
| Asylberechtigte | The original law for granting asylum in Germany based on Article 16a of the German Basic Law |
| Asylbewerber | A person applying for asylum |
| Aufenthaltstitel | Residency permit |
| Ausländerbehörde | German Foreigner’s Office |
| Aussiedler | Former German repatriates |
| Duldung | Tolerated foreigner with limited legal status, designated for deportation |
| Fehlbeleger | Registered German refugee still living in Emergency housing |
| Immobilienmaklermakler (Makler) | Real estate agent |
| Kommunen | Cities, towns and unincorporated areas |
| Länder | German Federal State |
| Leitkultur | ‘Leading Culture’, the concept of cultural model based on German and European Enlightenment values |
Migrant background: German residents and citizens with at least one parent not born in Germany | |
| Niederlassungserlaubnis | Permanent residence permit |
| Parallelgesellschaft | Parallel societies |
| Subsidiär Schutzberechtigte/Subsidiären Schutz | Subsidiary protected refugees with fewer rights than officially recognized refugees |
| Widerrufsverfahren | Removal procedure: encompassing several bureaucratic layers of deportation and loss of status |
Writing this book has been a journey along which I have encountered many individuals and institutions to whom and which I will be forever grateful and indebted, beginning with my many Syrian collaborators. Anas in particular has become a great friend since we met at the beginning of this project. He was always patient and open with me, allowing me to get to know his family and friends over the years. The names of the participants in my research are anonymized throughout this book, so I cannot name them here, but I am so thankful to them for allowing me into their homes, and for the many meals and pots of tea shared.
My research would also not have been possible without the support of many institutions that allowed me through their doors. First, thanks to the Jobcenter München, Zentraleinheit Flüchtlinge (ZEF) and the Jobcenter Kassel, Flucht und Migration 477 for transparency and allowing me to spend so much time with the employees there. The asylum office at Ausländerbehörde München (the Foreigner’s Office, Munich) and the Munich branch of the German Employment Agency were also very generous in allowing me to conduct interviews with their employees. The offices of the aid agency Caritas in Munich and Saarbrücken were also generous with their time.
The research for this book was made possible through my doctoral grant from the Hans-Böckler Foundation, which not only provided generous funding for my research project but is also one of the most important social and economic research centres in Germany, which I was proud to be a part of over the years. I am also thankful for the Böckler Foundation’s additional funding that allowed me to fund small work group with a focus on forced migration alongside my colleagues Kim Viktoria Bräuer-Zeltner and Stephanie Warkentin. Thank you for all your feedback and insight. I was lucky enough to be mentored by Eberhard Raithelhuber, who was also supportive and informative to my work throughout my stipend period and remained a mentor afterwards.
I was based at the Department of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich for the duration of my research and am indebted to the supervisors of my research, Professor Magnus Treiber
I also spent time as a Visiting Fellow at the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford for a term and benefited from the particular insight of Ruben Andersson, Naohiko Omata, Nando Sigona and Derya Ozkul. I am thankful for the well-organized programme that Mathew J. Gibney, Tom Scott-Smith and Alexander Betts made an enriching environment to work in. My cohort Diego Caballero Vélez, Daniel Howden and Kate Ogg made a great group to be there with: thank you for your support.
I am also thankful I was able join the PhD Summer School of the International Migration, Integration and Social Cohesion in Europe (IMISCOE) in 2018, at which I benefited from the mentorship of many colleagues and experts, particularly Anastasia Christou and Eleonore Kofman, who became valued mentors to me. I presented the research found in this book at several conferences and am particularly thankful for the feedback during those organized by the European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA) and Netzwerk Fluchtforschung.
When I went to Turkey in 2015, I was finishing my master’s in Peace, Conflict and Development at the Jaime | University I, which was supported through a Rotary Global Scholars Grant. I am grateful to have met my friend Hassan Almossa who hosted us there and still operates the Kids Paradise charity aiding people in Syria.
There are those who have been both great friends and essential colleagues, including Daniel Kunzelmann, Michael Mögele, Andreas Hackl and especially my close friend Vivian Schönbächler. I also would not have been able to begin my research in Turkey without the generous support of the Rotary Foundation of Downtown Los Angeles during my master’s study in Spain, from which I was still getting support during my initial visit to Turkey in 2015.
I am endlessly thankful for the support of my family. Marli, Jan, Pedro and Pam have been there from start to finish in this endeavour.
This book is the edited version of my PhD dissertation that was defended in 2020 at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. I am thankful for the support given to me by the university during my research.
