Emerging voices of young Syrian refugees and their experiences of integration in The Hague: frequent displacements, ‘Safe Space’, Habitus

Studying refugees’ integration from the perspective of refugees themselves is crucial, as integration is usually studied from the perspective of policymakers. This research asks: How do young Syrian men in The Hague experience the ‘integration’ process after a series of physical and mental ‘displacements’ and ‘onward mobility’? Previous studies suggest when a refugee feels safe and stable in the host country, this facilitates refugee integration, whilst frequent displacement is likely to do the reverse. One difficulty associated with the Dutch integration system is the frequent displacement between the reception center and camps in The Netherlands. Also, another form of displacements can happen under Dutch asylum-seeking policies, when young Syrian men leave dispersal locations to bigger cities for work opportunities, education, or due to repeated movements during the asylum process itself. This study uses elements from a holistic integration model, based on Anger and Strang’s model (2008), to understand how integration is experienced by young Syrian male refugees after a series of frequent displacements. Onward mobilities can be seen as one of the survival strategies of young Syrian refugee men, for whom integration becomes an obligation due to pre-conceived masculine roles, influenced by families life in Syria, the age of the young men, and perceptions of ‘safe spaces’ after multiple displacements. This research will contribute to gaining deeper insights into how these young men perceive the process of integration into Dutch society by centering on their stories. In this study, I asked them about blind spots in the Dutch integration system, life after displacements and their aspirations regarding for future in The Hague. Through the lens of Bourdieu’s habitus, I seek to imagine Dutch refugee integration policies from the perspective of young Syrian refugees who experienced a series of displacements and chose to move to The Hague leaving their dispersal locations chosen by the Dutch state. Given the new Civic Integration Act 2021, some lessons learned could be valuable for municipalities’ stronger role in integration. Recommendations include the need to provide information about ‘safe space’ initiatives in The Hague, working on understanding the socioeconomics of young Syrian refugees, while processing their applications, and the importance of increasing the number of reception centers and their capacity to limit the number of displacements within The Netherlands.