Forced Migration, Unwanted Acceptance, Uncertain Future of Syrian Refugees: The Struggle for Legal Status

In this study, the current situation of Syrian immigrants coming to Şanlıurfa through forced migration is discussed. Also, the study deals with the level of their adaptation by means of their reflection on the locals. The study mainly focus on the interaction between Syrian immigrants and locals in terms of social encounter, labor relations and the perceptions on immigrants’ position in the society and potential conflicts based on these perceptions. It reveals that the social encounters between the Syrian immigrants and the locals of Şanlıurfa have created an increasingly hostile environment within the social and cultural uncertainty relations because of the extended duration of the residence of the Syrians who are evaluated as "temporary guests". The situation of immigrants, whose legal status can be defined as uncertainty, is precisely a "threshold" position. The immigrants who have to leave their country cannot be a part of society. However, they live in the society. So, this situation leads to outwardness, inattention and uncertainty. In addition, immigrants are increasingly facing problems such as social exclusion, discrimination, marginalization, illegal work, and poverty.This is a descriptive study based on the literature review and the data of applied field research. In this study, it is aimed to understand the intentions and values behind the superficial, numerical part of the data.