A Qualitative Study Exploring the Psychosocial Needs of Male Undocumented Afghan Migrants in Istanbul, Turkey
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Sample and Setting
2.2. Interview Procedures
2.3. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Theme 1: Motives for Migrating to Turkey
“I worked for the Americans in Helmand and Kandahar, and recently when the Taliban took over Kunduz, they asked people like me to turn themselves in”.
“Me and my uncle had a small convenience store…after he was shot in the chest and killed, I sold the store, and used the money to leave”.
“I fled Iran with my whole family after spending 10 years there… they wanted to deport us back to Afghanistan”.
3.2. Theme 2: Traumatic Transit Experiences
“I walked 2 nights through the desert with smugglers and thought I was going to die. We had no food and smugglers would beat us when we didn’t keep up with the rest of the group or when we asked to rest. We saw dead bodies of people with their backpacks still on. I witnessed others drinking their own urine… I regret coming to Turkey because of all the troubles I experienced”.
“One night when our group stopped to sleep in the desert, the smugglers took the women to a different location against their will, telling the men that traveled with them that they were taking the women to a safer place to spend the night”.
3.3. Unmet Psychosocial Needs in Turkey
“We sleep in parks and have no food to eat… we have to find food… we don’t have jobs to become self-sufficient”.
“Money goes quick here when you don’t know the language”.
“When I first got here I felt like turning myself in [to the immigration authorities]… a friend of mine wanted to kill himself because he worked for a while for someone and did not get paid because he didn’t speak the language”.
“We have no power over these [Turkish] people, after working for them they will call the police on us and tell them that they don’t know us”.
3.4. Hopes for the Future
“We want to go to a place where they will accept us… we will sacrifice for our two children… we want our kids to make something of themselves and do something for their country [Afghanistan], if not, to at least contribute to wherever they live, that’s all we want”.
“If I make money I will leave, but for now I will stay [in Turkey] until money is made… I want to study diplomacy and political science in the future”.
“Turkey is a good place for me… I want to live here, work, and live like a Turk”.
“I want to go to Germany where my uncle is and get an education… after all, a person has to establish their dignity somehow…”.
“I just want 10% of what I could have potentially done in my profession, I studied engineering in Kabul and I can’t use my degree from Afghanistan here… I want to work for 2 to 3 years here then go to Europe”.
4. Discussion
5. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Alemi, Q.; Montgomery, S.; Stempel, C. A Qualitative Study Exploring the Psychosocial Needs of Male Undocumented Afghan Migrants in Istanbul, Turkey. Societies 2018, 8, 22. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc8020022
Alemi Q, Montgomery S, Stempel C. A Qualitative Study Exploring the Psychosocial Needs of Male Undocumented Afghan Migrants in Istanbul, Turkey. Societies. 2018; 8(2):22. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc8020022
Chicago/Turabian StyleAlemi, Qais, Susanne Montgomery, and Carl Stempel. 2018. "A Qualitative Study Exploring the Psychosocial Needs of Male Undocumented Afghan Migrants in Istanbul, Turkey" Societies 8, no. 2: 22. https://doi.org/10.3390/soc8020022