Who Stays? Who Moves on? Networks of Mistrust and Refugee Mobility to Ukraine

• In Event: 242 - Section on International Migration Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 12. Refugee Experiences

Abstract

Why do people settle in or move on from initial immigrant destinations? The growth of new destinations, not only in the U.S., but also internationally, in buffer countries at the borders of the Global North makes such questions central to debates on international migration. This paper develops perspectives to this question, drawing on original interviews, case file archives, and ethnographic observation with ninety asylum seekers and refugees, presenting ethnographic narratives from the migration biographies of five Afghan, Kyrgyz (Uzbekistan), Palestinian (Gaza), Ethiopian, and south Cameroonian refugees in Ukraine. It demonstrates the salience of national—as well as ethnic and other subnational identities—not only in the host society but also within refugees’ social networks as a driver of onward migration. As such, this paper contributes to research in the sociology of migration on the question of why people move, and specifically on forced migration processes by identifying networks of mistrust as inherent barriers to refugee integration in emerging destinations. It also adds to broader sociological debates on the contentious role of social networks in not only facilitating but also constraining resource mobilization, especially in sites undergoing rapid social change.

Author

• Raphi Rechitsky, University of Minnesota