Syrian Refugees in a "Bounded Mobility" Regime in Europe

This paper focuses on the Syrian forced migration experience in a framework of im/mobility or bounded mobility. It goes beyond the ‘new mobilities paradigm’ that argues that all the world is on the move. Compared to other categories of migrants in Europe, there is a rather wide openness towards the recognition of Syrians’ asylum status, and thus a given consent towards their movements in Europe. On the other hand, they are confined within border regimes and conditions applied by the European Union. Those conditions are often not in line with refugees’ expectations and they do not match with their hopes and outlooks. When this happens, insecurity threatens their future and refugees undertake secondary migration movements outside controlled channels. The flaws in the protection system challenge the international human rights legal instruments, which are no more able to guarantee refugees a basic protection. This paper is the result of a qualitative research conducted in 2017 through observation and semi-structured interviews with Syrian refugees, social workers and experts. It argues that refugees are im/mobile actors. Their mobility is fragmented and unsteady, and their movements follow different and more complicated routes that cannot be addressed by the legal and political obligation of states.