Ching-An Chang

This study takes into account the concept of ‘refugee entrepreneurship’ and ‘forms of capital’ to examine how the Turkey-based Syrian refugee businesspeople sustain and expand their businesses based on their pre-emigration nonsocial capital, namely their economic, cultural, and symbolic capital. The data are based on 36 semi-structured and in-depth interviews with Syrian refugee businesspeople in Istanbul and Gaziantep. I argue that refugees can establish and settle their lives in an active way rather than passively reacting to the challenges they have encountered from their hosts due to the capital they used to possess and brought to their host countries.

The 2011 Syrian uprising resulted in millions of Syrians fleeing to neighboring countries such as Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon, while others chose to relocate to Egypt. Among this unprecedented refugee wave, thousands were upper-middle or upper-class business people in pre-uprising Syria. This article examines how the Syrian refugee business people's social class affected their relocation and settlement in Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan. The data in this research are based on the analysis of ten months of fieldwork in Turkey, Egypt, and Jordan with 213 in-depth interviews of Syrian business people conducted by the author. The findings suggest that, first, the political relations between the host-home countries and the economic structure of the host countries affect what type of political or economic business people are relocating. Second, Syrian business people are more resilient than other refugees in balancing the challenges they meet in host societies, mainly based on their economic capital and status as business professionals. This article argues that the relocation choice and settlement process of the Syrian business people are closely related to their class as business professionals since both their relocation and settlement are affected or facilitated by their professions. This case shows how refugees' relocation and settlement processes go through a class-based orientation, depending on the specific resources they have and the related considerations regarding their professions. Keeping in mind the various social compositions among the massive refugee waves or forced migration, which might affect the results of relocation and settlement, this further suggests that refugee policymaking should be more "customized," taking the refugees and forced migrants' social classes into consideration.

This paper analyzes the socio-economic composition of Syrian refugees in Turkey and the potential it offers for facilitating the planning of refugee policy. The most severe humanitarian crisis since WWII, the Syrian conflict has already lasted for more than 10 years. Turkey is hosting almost four million Syrians –more than any other country. Given the prolonged nature of the conflict and the slim hope of a quick resolution, various studies and reports have suggested that Turkey should develop a policy of integration. While most of the literature on Syrian refugees has categorized them as homogenous people in need, the findings from this study suggest that the socio-economic composition of Syrian refugees is diversified and can affect the kind of refugee policy that could be implemented. This paper argues that reinvestigating the group’s diversified socio-economic composition could facilitate the planning of an effective refugee policy in Turkey.

In sharp contrast to the orthodox understanding of refugees as resourceless and disadvantaged victims, this article examines the impact that business operations of Istanbul-based Syrian refugee businesspeople have on their host economy, as well as determining which factors contribute to overcoming the social and legal challenges that prevent them from building their livelihoods. Since the impact of refugees on host countries is one of the main factors in a two-way process of integration between hosts and migrants, the analysis also takes into account the Turkish businesspeople's perspectives on Syrians. I argue that a reinvestigation of the diverse socio-economic make-up of refugees is crucial for examining refugees’ impact on host countries and for the planning of refugee policies, since the strategies refugees apply for overcoming (or alleviating) the challenges they encounter in the host countries are closely related to their pre-refuged capital and can be transferred to the host countries.

This paper analyzes the ways in which the expatriate Syrian business community engages in philanthropic activities to provide help to its fellow countrymen in host countries. Why and how did this group of people, after experiencing the brutal war and losing their assets and families, decide to provide a giving hand to others after relocations? And why did some others not? The mainstream media and reports usually describe the refugees as aid receivers who are disadvantaged or lacking resources. However, the case of the expatriate Syrian businesspeople, who fled from Syria to neighboring countries due to the conflict, show that there are various groups of Syrian philanthropic organizations funded by those businesspeople to give help and aid to other Syrians in host countries. Their philanthropic aid is not limited to material goods, but also includes religious courses, education, and employee training. The paper argues that although refugees are usually considered to live in a poor or weaker condition, economically strong expatriates (mostly businesspeople) among them can have a positive effect on the overall difficult humanitarian situation.

State-business relationships in pre-2011 Syria were strongly dominated by the Assad regime. Due to the conflict, millions of Syrians, including thousands of businesspeople, were forced to leave Syria. Home countries have been argued to play a crucial role in a diaspora’s development. Even though many Syrian businesspeople have emigrated to Turkey, long-term strict state-business relationships continue to affect the interactions of the Syrian businesspeople in Turkey. This paper examines how Syrian state-business ties shape the behaviors of the Turkey-based Syrian businesspeople. The paper argues that, although the activities of the business diaspora might need to be conducted cautiously due to their ties with the home government, and in order to improve economic activity in the host country, the businesspeople have developed specific ways to balance the impact of their home government.

Various studies have been conducted on expatriate Syrian oppositions. Nevertheless, previous studies neglected the important role of the expat Syrian businessmen in the exiled anti-Assad campaign. This paper examines the expatriate Syrian businessmen who took part in anti-Assad political organizations in the countries into which they relocated after 2011. The data in this research is based on nine months’ field research in Turkey, Egypt, and Jordon and on interviews with 191 Syrian businessmen. The analysis of the findings indicates that Syrian businessmen in exile took various posts as leaders or members in anti-Assad organizations. The expatriate Syrian businessmen’s decisions to personally partake in the anti-Assad political organizations were driven by the Assad regime’s suppression, the lack of potential threats toward their assets and relatives, and their resources and skills of political participation. The paper argues that expatriate Syrian businessmen were one of the important components of the expatriate Syrian opposition. It concludes that the rise of a new form of anti-Assad politics in exile has been developed, of which businessmen form a major component.