Temporary Adjustment or Normative Change? Fertility and Marriage Preferences of Syrian Refugees in Turkey in the Context of Forced Migration

Abstract

Turkey has the highest number of refugees in the world and is currently home to 3.7 million Syrians who had to flee from their country due to the conflict that started in 2011. This paper aims to focus on the fertility and marriage preferences of Syrian refugees by using a widely used qualitative research method Focus Group Discussions. The main findings revealed that socio-demographic indicators, the departure and arrival conditions in home and host country and the current place of residence had affected how families and individuals adjusted themselves and how they changed their fertility and marriage plans since their arrival in Turkey. Yet, the main findings also showed that while forced migration caused normative changes on some, some others reacted and saw these changes just as a temporary adjustment.

Understanding fertility behavior of the Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals in Bangladesh: A qualitative study

“…The existing surveys and demographic profiling studies highlight that high fertility is the prevalent norm among the Muslimmajority Rohingya community, with the widespread practice of child marriage [2][3][4][5]. Though there is a scarcity of fertility-related data in this community, the available estimate shows that the total fertility rate (TFR) is 3.8 among the Rohingya [6] which is comparable to other Muslim refugee populations across the world: 3.6 among the Afghan refugees in Iran [7], 3.8 among Syrian refugees in Turkey [8], and 4.0 among the Somalian refugees in Norway [9]. However, worldwide, where Muslims are the majority group in terms of religious affiliation have significantly lower fertility levels, e.g., 1.7 in Iran [10], 2.1 in Maldives, 2.3 in Bangladesh and Turkey, 2.4 in Indonesia, and 2.5 in Morocco [11].…”

Unmet need for family planning among Syrian migrant women living in Turkey and its determinants

“…Available evidence indicates that migrants are likely to encounter unmet reproductive health needs, which can include low rates of contraceptive utilization, insufficient knowledge about contraceptive methods, and a higher likelihood of unintended pregnancies. These factors highlight the importance of addressing reproductive health disparities and providing targeted support and education to migrant populations to ensure their reproductive health rights are met [8][9][10].…”