Refugee Documentation as a Tool of State Control: a Comparative Analysis of Turkey and Colombia

• In Event: 40420 - Section on Political Sociology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 15: The Politics of Immigration 2

Abstract

We examine the seemingly paradoxical phenomenon of right-wing governments providing generous mass regularization policies to displaced populations. Using a comparative analysis of the ad hoc mass regularization policies of two of the twenty-first century’s most important receiving states – Turkey and Colombia– this paper explores the legal and policy reasoning whereby irregular migrants were extended status. Turkey is the main destination state for displaced Syrians, hosting over 3 million and having provided migratory status to a vast majority. Colombia hosts almost 3 million displaced Venezuelans, and a majority have been provided with regular status. While restrictive policies are often associated with limiting migrant rights, right-wing governments, in these cases, employ documentation as a tool to manage refugee populations strategically. In Turkey, ideological imperatives drive this approach, with the ruling party framing refugee inclusion as part of a broader religious and political identity project. By contrast, Colombia’s policy reflects state rationality, where documentation serves practical governance purposes, ensuring social order and facilitating international aid.
In addition to exploring the legal and policy reasoning for the production of migratory status from the right, this paper will explore the implications of these statuses. First, it will hypothesize the relative “stickiness” of ad hoc migratory statuses when initiated by the right, suggesting that there is a sequential mechanism when the right is the first mover, which creates higher permanence. Second, it will analyze the implications of these ad hoc statuses in the face of international refugee law, as they simultaneously seem to undermine international principles while, in practice, advancing the protection goals of international conventions. This analysis will contribute to moving beyond fetishizing certain statuses.
The study offers a rare comparative perspective between a Middle Eastern and a Latin American case, showcasing variations in right-wing refugee governance across ideological and geographic boundaries.

Authors

• Andrés Sebastián Besserer Rayas, CUNY-Graduate Center

• Sevin Gulfer Sagnic, University of California-San Diego