Understanding the “Harmonization” of Syrians :|the politics of implementation at the local level

Abstract

This thesis studies the implementation processes of Syrian refugee incorporation projects at the local level in Turkey. Recognizing the municipalities’ increased role in refugee incorporation due to being the first level of interaction with state authorities, this research focuses on the implementation practices at the municipal level held in collaboration with non-governmental organizations. The multi-level character of the issue of refugee incorporation brings about the necessary attention that should be paid to the international refugee regime structure in which the objectives, guidelines, and limits on refugee incorporation are set and identified. This thesis aims to explain two interlinked questions: first, to what extent local actors’ practices can associate with what is intended at the national and international level; second, how they carry out their projects in terms of maintaining their interactions with state and non-state actors and putting their projects in practice. As the study of the local level demonstrates, the local actors appropriate the principle of ‘harmonization’ according to the structural factors, i.e., limited nature of the status granted to Syrians, economic hardship in the country, and low level of interest of host communities in communication with Syrians. In addition, the interactions among state and non-state actors are politicized, which determines not only who can be an actor in refugee incorporation at the local level, but also what can be done on the ground regarding refugee incorporation..