“Knowledge is confused”: Rethinking pull factors in light of asylum and refugee integration policies

Abstract

The degree to which asylum or refugee integration policy influences a forcibly displaced individual's decision to settle in one European country versus another remains understudied, yet highly visible in policy and public debate. This work asks what explains this decision‐making via Spanish case study. The authors analyse 30 in‐depth interviews with persons seeking international protection from Spain combined with surveys among Spanish NGOs conducted in 2021. Main results firstly demonstrate that few individuals were previously aware of their intended destination's integration policies. Second, decision‐making affected by policies differs between individuals, related to socio‐demographic characteristics (origin country, age, gender). Third, EU policies serve as an auxiliary consideration. Finally, individual personal networks serve as the recurrent, principal pull factor. This paper contributes by highlighting that Spanish integration policies do not serve as a primary influence on decision‐making; instead, they serve as secondary or mediating factors, alongside the main factor of personal networks.