Dynamics of mobility-stasis in refugee journeys: Case of resettlement from Turkey to Canada

Abstract

The refugee Odyssey is often not a linear, straightforward movement from point A to point B, from sending country to receiving one. Rather, it involves multiple paths, gateways, entry and exit points, and territories en route to the country of resettlement. Crucially, the journey involves not only mobility but also immobility and/or periods of stasis—breaks that are, in many cases, a natural part of the journey. Alongside this diversity of paths and movements, the refugee experience—understood in terms of the practices and acts of refugees en route—is also far from homogeneous. Each journey may well have an episodic character, where the course, direction, and periods of waiting for one asylum traveller can differ significantly from those of previous and/or future travellers—even if the departure point and destination are the same. Within this context, this article examines the breaks or periods of stasis that punctuate the refugee Odyssey, which we call mobistasis. We base our empirical findings on research conducted with people en route to resettlement in Canada via Turkey where they initially seek asylum and await resettlement. Drawing on fieldwork in Turkey and Canada between April 2014 and October 2016 and semi-structured interviews conducted with asylum travellers from non-European countries, the article illustrates how Turkey as the country of asylum is more than a space of mere ‘transit’. It rather constitutes a space of mobistasis—stasis within movement—in the asylum voyage towards countries of resettlement.