Between Locally Led Response and Domestic Blame Avoidance: Dilemmas in the Management of Syrians in Turkey

Based on observations and unstructured interviews with key actors conducted in Turkey in 2019 and 2020, this study considers the dynamics of sovereignty and transnational cooperation in the management of forced migration. We focus in particular on the question: to what extent can humanitarian govern...

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Main Authors: Marc Smyrl, Ceren Ark Yıldırım
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Istanbul University Press 2023-04-01
Series:Siyasal: Journal of Political Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/5B6DC155DA6D40E593E1F8FE97F8FA9D
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author Marc Smyrl
Ceren Ark Yıldırım
author_facet Marc Smyrl
Ceren Ark Yıldırım
author_sort Marc Smyrl
collection DOAJ
description Based on observations and unstructured interviews with key actors conducted in Turkey in 2019 and 2020, this study considers the dynamics of sovereignty and transnational cooperation in the management of forced migration. We focus in particular on the question: to what extent can humanitarian governance and host-country social protection schemes converge? The 2016 humanitarian summit recommended a model of international humanitarian governance in which social policy instruments and actors should be given greater weight in humanitarian management. In this paper, we use the case of humanitarian assistance to Syrians under temporary protection in Turkey to test the limits of this policy shift. We argue that as long as supporting forced migrants from public resources is seen as an undesirable action by voters, host country governments must balance implementation of this internationally established norm with attention to “blame avoidance.” "Avoiding blame is the main obstacle preventing the full convergence of humanitarian aid instruments with national social protection instruments.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2618-6330
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publishDate 2023-04-01
publisher Istanbul University Press
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series Siyasal: Journal of Political Sciences
spelling doaj-art-8f70eb39d864469e980b22fc77dff2952025-08-20T03:53:03ZengIstanbul University PressSiyasal: Journal of Political Sciences2618-63302023-04-01321759410.26650/siyasal.2023.32.1247858123456Between Locally Led Response and Domestic Blame Avoidance: Dilemmas in the Management of Syrians in TurkeyMarc Smyrl0https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4399-9101Ceren Ark Yıldırım1https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0227-3822University of Montpellier, Montpellier, FranceIstanbul University, Istanbul, TurkiyeBased on observations and unstructured interviews with key actors conducted in Turkey in 2019 and 2020, this study considers the dynamics of sovereignty and transnational cooperation in the management of forced migration. We focus in particular on the question: to what extent can humanitarian governance and host-country social protection schemes converge? The 2016 humanitarian summit recommended a model of international humanitarian governance in which social policy instruments and actors should be given greater weight in humanitarian management. In this paper, we use the case of humanitarian assistance to Syrians under temporary protection in Turkey to test the limits of this policy shift. We argue that as long as supporting forced migrants from public resources is seen as an undesirable action by voters, host country governments must balance implementation of this internationally established norm with attention to “blame avoidance.” "Avoiding blame is the main obstacle preventing the full convergence of humanitarian aid instruments with national social protection instruments.https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/5B6DC155DA6D40E593E1F8FE97F8FA9Dmigrationhumanitarian assistancecash transferblame avoidance
spellingShingle Marc Smyrl
Ceren Ark Yıldırım
Between Locally Led Response and Domestic Blame Avoidance: Dilemmas in the Management of Syrians in Turkey
Siyasal: Journal of Political Sciences
migration
humanitarian assistance
cash transfer
blame avoidance
title Between Locally Led Response and Domestic Blame Avoidance: Dilemmas in the Management of Syrians in Turkey
title_full Between Locally Led Response and Domestic Blame Avoidance: Dilemmas in the Management of Syrians in Turkey
title_fullStr Between Locally Led Response and Domestic Blame Avoidance: Dilemmas in the Management of Syrians in Turkey
title_full_unstemmed Between Locally Led Response and Domestic Blame Avoidance: Dilemmas in the Management of Syrians in Turkey
title_short Between Locally Led Response and Domestic Blame Avoidance: Dilemmas in the Management of Syrians in Turkey
title_sort between locally led response and domestic blame avoidance dilemmas in the management of syrians in turkey
topic migration
humanitarian assistance
cash transfer
blame avoidance
url https://cdn.istanbul.edu.tr/file/JTA6CLJ8T5/5B6DC155DA6D40E593E1F8FE97F8FA9D
work_keys_str_mv AT marcsmyrl betweenlocallyledresponseanddomesticblameavoidancedilemmasinthemanagementofsyriansinturkey
AT cerenarkyıldırım betweenlocallyledresponseanddomesticblameavoidancedilemmasinthemanagementofsyriansinturkey