Deconstructing the Refugee-Led Concept and Refugee Label: A Multiple Case-Study Exploration of Syrian and Afghan Associations in Turkey

Escaping the horrors of war in Syria in 2011, Syrians, in a massive influx, sought protection and safety in Turkey, where they were received with solidarity and an 'open-door' policy. As a result, Turkey has hosted and continues to host more than 2.5 million Syrians under temporary protection. For Afghans, protracted displacement and migration to Turkey can be traced to four decades of conflict beginning after the Soviet coup d'état in 1978, and more recently following the Taliban takeover in August 2021. Afghans have sought refuge in Turkey and neighbouring countries (e.g. Pakistan). There are 9,872 Afghan refugees under international protection and 58,406 asylum seekers, with Afghans considered the second-largest foreign population in Turkey (UNHCR Türkiye, 2025). In total, around 121,000 refugees and asylum seekers under international protection are present, making Turkey the largest refugee-hosting country in the world (UNHCR Türkiye, 2025). Syrians and Afghans face multiple forms of precarity and strategic temporality in Turkey. Despite these conditions, they establish associations (i.e. organisations) to provide alternatives and address community needs, filling gaps in protection and services left by the Turkish state and demonstrating agency in displacement. Since the World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul (2016) and the Global Refugee Compact, scholars and humanitarian actors have increasingly recognised the role of 'Refugee-Led Organisations' (RLOs). Displaced people form these organisations to assert agency and self-reliance, and the term RLOs is now widely used to describe their efforts. However, limited research has examined how displaced people define, construct, and navigate their associational work, positionality, and identity beyond externally imposed labels such as 'RLOs' and 'refugee', and how these labels simultaneously enable and constrain their work. This thesis addresses this gap by examining how Syrian and Afghan associations in Turkey negotiate and respond to these labels, navigate their temporality, and reinterpret their associational work within restrictive socio-political and legal conditions. In doing so, it deconstructs the homogenising effects of the RLO concept in the Turkish context, highlighting its limitations in reflecting lived realities and its role in international humanitarian discourse. The research adopts a qualitative, constructivist approach using a case study methodology, focusing on Syrian (n=3), Afghan (n=2), and Turkish (n=2) associations in Fatih (Istanbul) and Kayseri. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews (n=20), four focus group discussions (n=4), and participant observation involving founders, staff, and volunteers. The findings show that Syrian and Afghan associations emerge in response to urgent and unmet community needs, particularly in accessing education, healthcare, psychosocial support, and protection. Their work is shaped and constrained by restrictive protection regimes, shrinking civic space, and increasingly hostile political and social narratives, particularly towards Syrians and, more recently, Afghans. The study further demonstrates that the RLO category and the broader refugee label obscure the diversity of Syrian and Afghan experiences by homogenising their realities and concealing internal complexities. Individuals' positions on accepting or rejecting these labels are shaped by their lived experiences, cultural and religious identities, and interpretations of associational work. The RLO categorisation also masks differences in historical backgrounds, legal statuses, knowledge, and trajectories, limiting understanding of associational diversity. Similarly, participants develop localised interpretations of integration and social cohesion that reflect their specific contexts. Overall, the findings highlight the need to move beyond host-state-centric and externally imposed labels towards approaches that account for the temporal, spatial, social, cultural, and political contexts shaping displaced associations. This thesis contributes empirically by centring the voices of Syrian and Afghan members in Turkey and theoretically by challenging dominant humanitarian and policy frameworks that homogenise displaced collective action. It also demonstrates how such frameworks obscure the dynamics of visibility and invisibility, resistance and survival, legitimacy, and autonomy that shape associational practices. Keywords: Syrian, Afghan, associations, Turkey, RLO, refugee label.