Afghans in Greece and Turkey seeking to migrate onward : decision-making factors and destination choices

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to understand the migration intentions of Afghans in Greece and Turkey, and the factors influencing their decisions. The article is based on data collected within the “Understanding Irregular Migrants’ Decision Making Factors in Transit” project funded by the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection and the Australian National University’s Collaborative Research Programme on the International Movement of People.2 A survey was conducted with a total of 1,056 respondents from Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan and the Syrian Arab Republic in May–July 2015 in Athens and Istanbul, and was supplemented with qualitative interviews. This article focuses solely on the Afghan respondents included in this sample (n=375). For the purposes of this study, Greece and Turkey are considered as transit countries while recognizing that they in fact are also countries of immigration and emigration. This article is divided into four sections. The first section examines the respondents with plans to migrate onward, the second section explores their destination choices and decision-making factors for their destination choices, the third section discusses information sources used in their decisions and the final section offers policy implications.