Abstract:

After mass migrations, voluntary repatriation has come to the fore as a subject of debate and an issue that needs to be addressed. There’s a growing need for Turkey and similar asylum countries to learn from international experiences of such migrations. This study analyzes the voluntary repatriation of Syrian asylum seekers in Turkey by examining the examples of voluntary repatriation and the economic, social, cultural and political consequences after return. This study attemps to answer the questions such as what kind of sociological and political grounds form voluntary, safe and sustainable returns; whether the returns are realized at the predicted level; and how international dynamics, asylum and source country practices reflect in the process. The main purpose of the study is to explore international experiences on voluntary repatriation and contribute to the planning and practices of Syrians in Turkey for return migration. Political and economic characteristics of source countries, migration policies of destination countries, stability of international efforts, diplomatic relations, sociological grounds of the country of asylum, sociodemographic characteristics of migrants and the experiences after migration are the main components that are effective on the returns.

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