Locals’ support for integration policies and asylum seekers’ rights: Exploring a normative model of support for Syrians in Turkey

Abstract

AbstractSyrian asylum seekers in Turkey have been trying to adapt to their new life circumstances despite unclear integration and resettlement policies and high levels of discrimination and exclusion. We argue that fostering integration and asylum seekers’ rights requires a bottom‐up normative approach that considers members of the receiving society as active agents of these processes. Accordingly, in this study, we investigated the role of normative social context as well as sociopsychological antecedents among citizens of Turkey in facilitating their support for governmental integration policies and Syrian asylum seekers’ rights. A survey study was conducted with 202 residents in three cities, namely Bursa, Mardin, and Hatay, representing different geographical, ethnic, and cultural components in Turkey (i.e., Turkish, Kurdish, Arab, and Kurdish‐Arab). We specifically examined whether the normative context as perceived by residents' pro‐diversity norms in their city and generalized attitudes toward minorities predict their expectations of governmental integration policy for Syrians and support for their rights. Furthermore, we tested the mediating roles of valuing contact with Syrians and acceptance of their presence and stay in these relations. Parallel mediation analyses indicated that residents' perceived pro‐diversity norms in the city predict lower expectations from the government regarding Syrian asylum seekers' integration and lower support for Syrians' rights through lower acceptance of Syrians' stay. Furthermore, positive feelings toward other minority groups predicted higher expectations for governmental policies regarding Syrian asylum seekers' accommodation through both higher importance attributed to contact with Syrians, and higher acceptance of Syrians' stay in Turkey. These findings suggest that considering the attitudes toward existing minority groups among the members of the receiving society can be crucial in designing psychosocial interventions aimed at fostering a supportive environment for the newcomers. However, they also indicate caution regarding the taken‐for‐granted role of pro‐diversity beliefs among the residents, especially in societies with complex intergroup relations.