TY - JOUR
T1 - Culture or bureaucracy? Challenges in syrian refugees' initial settlement in Germany
AU - Pearlman, Wendy
N1 - Funding Information:
The author is grateful for a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for it generous support of her field research in Germany and the Forum Transregionale Studien-eume (Europe in the Middle East – the Middle East In Europe) for serving as her institutional host. For their help and insight while in Germany, the author thanks Nora Ateia, André Bank, Jacobia Dahm, Dina El-Sharnouby, Nur Hajjir, Nahed Samour, Luisa Seiler, and the many Syrian newcomers who shared their stories with her. She thanks Agneska Bloch, Coretta Lemaitre, Asha Sawhney, and Sky Swanson for German-language research assistance. All errors are the author’s alone.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - In 2015 and 2016, Germany received more than 1.1 million asylum applications, some 425,000 of them from Syrians. Significant optimism accompanied the peak of this refugee inflow, with many Syrians praising Germany as a haven offering freedom and dignity, and many Germans taking pride in their country's humanitarian stance and welcoming culture. Since then, various sources of anxiety have emerged, particularly those related to locals' concerns about threats to their country's national culture and newcomers' frustrations stemming from their dealings with state bureaucracy. Building on field research in Germany in 2016 and 2017, this article offers a preliminary exploration of these issues, with a focus on refugees' experience of bureaucracy in the realms as legal status, housing, and work. The article concludes with reflections on how juxtaposition of locals and newcomers' respective concerns can highlight unexpected spaces for exchange and mutual understanding.
AB - In 2015 and 2016, Germany received more than 1.1 million asylum applications, some 425,000 of them from Syrians. Significant optimism accompanied the peak of this refugee inflow, with many Syrians praising Germany as a haven offering freedom and dignity, and many Germans taking pride in their country's humanitarian stance and welcoming culture. Since then, various sources of anxiety have emerged, particularly those related to locals' concerns about threats to their country's national culture and newcomers' frustrations stemming from their dealings with state bureaucracy. Building on field research in Germany in 2016 and 2017, this article offers a preliminary exploration of these issues, with a focus on refugees' experience of bureaucracy in the realms as legal status, housing, and work. The article concludes with reflections on how juxtaposition of locals and newcomers' respective concerns can highlight unexpected spaces for exchange and mutual understanding.
KW - Asylum
KW - Bureaucracy
KW - Culture
KW - Germany
KW - Integration
KW - Refugee
KW - Syria
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U2 - 10.1163/18763375-00903002
DO - 10.1163/18763375-00903002
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85037661354
VL - 9
SP - 313
EP - 327
JO - Middle East Law and Governance
JF - Middle East Law and Governance
SN - 1876-3367
IS - 3
ER -
