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International Journal of Population Studies

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Challenges to the integration of Syrian

refugees

Ernesto F. L. Amaral *, Mahlet A. Woldetsadik and Gabriela Armenta 2
1
2
1 Department of Sociology, Texas A&M University, USA
2 Pardee RAND Graduate School, Santa Monica, California, USA

Abstract: In this study, we provide an overview of the situation of Syrian refugees and
other non-citizens living in host countries. We explored the cases of several countries:
Turkey, which is one of the main destinations for refugees, flees the Syrian crisis; Germany
and the United Kingdom, which are high-income countries where the public sentiment
about refugees has changed over time; Greece and Italy, nations that share a close border
with countries experiencing large refugee influxes; and Canada and Australia, which have
had different approaches regarding inflows of refugees and do not share borders with
countries that have significant outflows of migrants and refugees. Our review of policies
suggests that the successful resettlement of Syrian refugees is dependent on political
commitment that is coupled with public support and community engagement. Successful
social and economic policies to address the refugee crisis demand a combined effort in
terms of planning, implementing, monitoring, and assessing initiatives. Most importantly,
record-keeping and sharing data with stakeholders need to be improved, which is a joint
ARTICLE INFO request of non-profit organizations and academic institutions.
Received: November 13, 2017 Keywords: refugees; asylum; migration; Syria; civil war; integration
Accepted: January 13, 2018
Published: January 19, 2018
1. Introduction
*CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
Since the Syrian civil war began in March 2011, the United Nations High Commissioner
Ernesto F. L. Amaral, for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates that 13.1 million people are in dire need of humanitarian
Department of Sociology, Texas
A&M University, USA. assistance. As of April 2018, 6.6 million people have been internally displaced, and an
amaral@tamu.edu estimated 5.6 million Syrians have fled the country (UNHCR, 2018a). The number of
refugees and asylum seekers is estimated to be almost 3.6 million in Turkey, one million
CITATION
in Lebanon, 700,000 in Jordan, 250,000 in Iraq, 130,000 in Egypt, and 35,000 in other
Amaral EFL, Woldetsadik MA, North African countries (Operational Data Portal, 2018). Out of this total group of Syrian
Armenta G. (2018) Challenges to refugees, close to one million have requested asylum in different countries within the
the integration of Syrian
refugees. International Journal of European Union (EU) (European University Institute, 2016).
Population Studies, 4(1):25-42. To date, the response to the refugee crisis has focused largely on providing humanitarian
doi: 10.18063/ijps.v4i1.457 assistance for refugees (Médecins Sans Frontières [MSF], 2013; Oxford Committee for
Copyright: © 2018 Amaral EFL, Famine Relief [OXFAM], 2016a). Even so, international organizations including OXFAM
Woldetsadik MA, Armenta G. and Doctors without Borders (MSF) have argued that the international aid response has
This is an Open Access article failed to keep up with the rising needs of Syrian refugees (MSF, 2013; OXFAM, 2016a).
distributed under the terms of the Since the crisis started, countries such as Turkey, Lebanon, and Jordan have struggled
Creative Commons Attribution-
NonCommercial 4.0 International to offer adequate social protection services, which has led to an increase in vulnerable
License (http://creativecommons. groups (UNHCR, 2018b). In addition, the arrival of refugees in Lebanon and Jordan has
org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), impacted the economy and public service provisions. This population inflow has resulted
permitting all noncommercial use, in thousands of Syrians being stranded at the Jordanian and Turkish borders, unable to
distribution, and reproduction
in any medium, provided the enter the host country and reach safety (UNHCR, 2018b). Moreover, the crisis continues
original work is properly cited. to have social, health, and economic effects on the displaced populations as well as on

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