Making sense of migration: young Turks' experiences in the United Kingdom

Abstract

Until recently, children and young people's experiences of international migration and mobility have received minimal attention. Young migrants are either neglected in migration and childhood/youth studies or depicted in theoretically essentialist frameworks as model or problem ethnic minorities. This paper focuses on a neglected issue with respect to an invisible ethnic group in the British context by examining the subjective meanings of crossing borders among young Turkish migrants into Britain. This study's empirical component is based on semi-structured interviews with 12 participants (six male and six female) between 16 and 21 years old. A narrativebased qualitative method was used to analyse interview transcripts, and particular attention is given to the content of participants' stories. The following three themes were chosen to re-present these young people's experiences on moving to the UK: the process of decision-making, initial experiences in the UK and family relationships after migration. The findings are discussed with reference to the relevant literature, policy-making and possible means of supporting young migrants.

Perceptions of Social Support and Future Expectations among Young Adult Syrian Immigrants

“…Syrian individuals who primarily face problems in meeting their basic needs such as accommodation, health, and education cannot make use of the employment opportunities and domestic resources as much as the citizens of the country due to language barriers, cultural differences, and social prejudices and they may suffer from stress, anxiety, and depression (Measham et al, 2014).Since they are in a phase of growing up, immigration may act in a more coercive way on young people compared to adults. Young immigrants face various obstacles such as recognition in the host country, racism, admission to peer groups, and language barrier (Cooke, 2008;Tanyas, 2012).…”

Polish migrant youth in Scottish schools: conflicted identity and family capital

“…Children and young people's experiences of international migration and mobility have begun to attract interest in studies regarding migration and children/youth studies (e.g. Ní Laoire et al 2011;Tanyas 2012). Researchers have often struggled to conceptualize migrant children and youth, and their families, giving way to a tendency to stereotype them as a 'problem' or 'model' in the host societies/education system and to overlook the complexity of culture and language in their lives (Suárez-Orozco and Carhill 2008: 87).…”

Why is it so hard? And for whom? Obstacles to intra-European mobility

“…Those hindrances are reflected in the correspondence analysis with obstacles such as 'Difficulties registering in education/training', 'Obstacles or differences in recognition of qualifications' and 'Lack of support or information' located on the right of the graph. As stated in the literature, previous educational achievements may go unrecognised in other countries (Grabher et al, 2014;Tanyas, 2012) or a lengthy and sometimes costly process may be required to achieve recognition (Wulz & Rainer, 2015). Additionally, targeted and accessible information is often lacking (Brandenburg, 2014;Grabher et al, 2014;Lörz et al, 2016), general administrative rules are often missing (Gibbons & Telhaj, 2011) and the application process can be demanding and stressful (Eichhorst et al, 2013;Pimentel Bótas & Huisman, 2013).…”