Explaining the Politics of Security: Syrian Refugees in Turkey and Lebanon

Abstract

Under what conditions do governments view and respond to the arrival of refugees primarily as a security threat? Comparatively analyzing the securitization of Syrian refugees in two host countries, Turkey and Lebanon, this paper proposes a domestic political context–based theory and typology of securitization. Based on a quantitative and qualitative content analysis of the media data including mainstream national Turkish and Lebanese newspaper articles, this research first differentiates between different levels of securitization and finds that moderate securitization in Lebanon during the early years of the refugee crisis (2013–2014) coincided with an open border policy, inaction, legal ambiguity, and benign neglect. From 2015, a marked increase of securitization in Lebanon coincided with controlled borders, restrictive policies, and heightened tension. Securitization of Syrian refugees has followed a somewhat different trajectory in Turkey, where the state switched from non-recognition (2013–2014) to recognition (2014–2016) and then from recognition to integration (2016–present), while a decrease in securitization mapped onto this policy trajectory despite the opposition's and the public's increasing discontentment with the presence of refugees. Then, this paper argues that the low level of securitization in Turkey is an outcome of the incumbent party's Islamist political ideology that motivates transnational religious solidarity, whereas the high level of securitization in Lebanon is a consequence of elite divisions and the country's unique historical experiences with Palestinian refugees that engender competing security perspectives and agendas on Syrian refugees. Overall, this study demonstrates how contextual or domestic factors are key to explaining government attitudes toward refugee groups and contributes to our understanding of the sources and processes of securitization.

The Dilemma of the Syrian Refugees. (c2021)

“…Prominent studies have investigated the impact of the Syrian refugee crisis and their population growth on the Lebanese social, political, and economic structure and institutions (MSF, 2021;ILO, 2014;Secen, 2020;Cherri, Gonzalez, Delgado, 2016). Conflicting theories and analysis have attempted to elucidate the impact of Syrian refugee population chiefly the emerging demographic changes and its transpired population growth.…”