Afghan migration through Turkey to Europe: seeking refuge, forming diaspora, and becoming citizens

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the Afghan-Turkish-European region migration system in light of migration system theory, which provides a comprehensive framework by asking the question of how a set of linkages including some macro-, meso- and micro-level variables relate to the larger context of migratory settings. Relating the roles of various structures, institutions and networks to the operation of the social, political and economic relationships, it seeks to analyze the dynamics of Afghan migration heading to Turkey and Europe in a historically contextualized way. The paper argues that one must focus on the root causes of flows, which are related to the presence of fragility of the Afghan state together with the continuation of flows via networks enabling the maintenance of migrants' links to home, transit and destination countries.