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Invisible Lines: The Racialized and Gendered Boundaries of Syrian Women’s Migration in Turkey

A blogpost by Petek Pismis

Throughout human history, migration has played a crucial role and has often been framed through relatively abstract concepts such as citizenship and border control. This paper draws on E. Tendayi Achiume’s “Racial Borders” as well as Kristen Biehl Öztuzcu and Didem Danış’s edited volume “Migration Studies in Turkey from a Gender Perspective”, focusing on their intersection in the migration processes of Syrian women.1

Although Turkey, unlike many Western states, is not formally organized around racial categories, migrants’ lived experiences clearly reveal the existence of racialized and gender-related borders. Syrian women encounter layered barriers in legal status, labor markets, and social belonging, which reproduce both racialized and gendered hierarchies. These dynamics illustrate how race functions as border infrastructure and, in intersection with gender, shapes the conditions of migrants’ inclusion and subordination.

Theoretical Framework: Racial Borders

Achiume defines racial borders as political and territorial regimes that regulate migration and membership differentially according to race, typically through laws and policies that appear neutral on the surface. Rooted in imperial and colonial legacies, these borders operate as instruments of white supremacy within the global order. One of Achiume’s most important contributions is her conceptualization of race itself as border infrastructure.2

Although Achiume’s examples primarily concern First World states, the underlying logic extends beyond formal racial categories. In Turkey, the distinction between ‘native’ Turkish citizens and Syrian refugees is drawn through ethnicity, language, religion, and perceived cultural difference.

Gendered Perspectives on Migration in Turkey

Three refugee women sit side by side on blue chairs in a community center. The two older women wear black headscarves and coats, while the younger woman on the right wears a white headscarf and a light top. They face the camera calmly, with colorful handmade artwork and multilingual signs decorating the wall behind them, reflecting a creative and culturally diverse environment.

Refugee women in Turkey inside a UNFPA-supported safe space, creating community and support (UNFPA, CC‑BY); https://eeca.unfpa.org/sites/default/files/styles/original/public/news/WGSS_Turkey_2019_Jessica%20Alfonso.webp?itok=34q5wzYW

Biehl and Danış’s edited volume introduces a gender-sensitive and intersectional perspective to migration studies, disrupting male-centered narratives and making the experiences of women and LGBT+ migrants visible. Several chapters specifically document the challenges faced by Syrian women:3

  • Labor Markets: Uçar’s ethnography in Gaziantep shows that Syrian women are concentrated in low-paid, insecure jobs, often lacking legal protection.
  • Marriage-Based Migration: Gönül’s research demonstrates that cross-border marriages are shaped by patriarchal norms and economic dependency, which produce precarious legal statuses.
  • Belonging and Difference: Saygı’s analysis of Turkish women’s narratives illustrates how perceptions of ‘us’ and ‘them’ construct cultural boundaries that parallel racial borders.
  • Queer Refugee Identities: Koçak’s chapter highlights how LGBT+ refugees experience multiple marginalizations based on sexuality, gender, and migration status.

Intersection of Racial and Gendered Borders

Applying Achiume’s concept of racial borders to the Turkish context reveals that these gendered experiences are simultaneously racialized. The perceived ‘Arabness’ of Syrian women becomes a form of racialization that legitimizes differential treatment in employment, housing, and public space. Legal frameworks such as the temporary protection regime function as racial borders by restricting full political membership and mobility, while gendered norms further constrain women’s agency within these limits.

For instance, Turkey’s informal labor markets rely on marginalized workers who can be paid below minimum wage, allowing employers to avoid paying insurance and taxes. Syrian women are incorporated into this system, contributing to the Turkish economy in unofficial ways. Yet, this reality cannot be detached from exploitation. This reflects Achiume’s definition of racial border regimes that both exclude and selectively include migrants under exploitative conditions.

Conclusion

Achiume’s theory of racial borders provides a powerful lens through which to analyze Turkey’s migration regime, showing that racialized logics—though not explicitly named as ‘race’—structure the boundaries of inclusion. Considered alongside a gender perspective, it becomes clear that Syrian women face double marginalization: through racialized exclusionary practices and patriarchal labor and legal systems.

This intersectional analysis emphasizes the need for migration policies in Turkey that dismantle both racialized and gendered barriers. Legal reforms must guarantee equitable access to work permits, social services, and pathways to permanent residency or citizenship. Combining Achiume’s postcolonial critique with gender-sensitive empirical research allows for a better understanding of, and resistance to, the complex injustices embedded in contemporary migration governance.

 

Petek Pismis is a Master’s student in Media, Society, and Communication at the University of Innsbruck.

 

Diesen Artikel zitieren: Pismis, Petek: Invisible Lines: The Racialized and Gendered Boundaries of Syrian Women’s Migration in Turkey, in: Migration and Belonging, 31/10/2025, https://belonging.hypotheses.org/6586 [Abrufdatum].

 

  1. Achiume, E. Tendayi: Racial Borders, in: The Georgetown Law Journal 110 (2022) 3, 445-508; Biehl Öztuzcu, Kristen / Danış, Didem (eds.): Toplumsal cinsiyet perspektifinden Türkiye’de göç araştırmaları [Migration Studies in Turkey from a Gender Perspective]. İstanbul 2020. See also Amendt, Anna: Racial Borders and Indigenous Migration in Latin America. How Colonial Legacies Shape Indigenous Mobility in Latin America, in: Migration and Belonging, 24.10.2025. []
  2. Achiume 2022. []
  3. Biehl Öztuzcu / Danış 2020. []

OpenEdition schlägt Ihnen vor, diesen Beitrag wie folgt zu zitieren:
Petek Pismis (31. Oktober 2025). Invisible Lines: The Racialized and Gendered Boundaries of Syrian Women’s Migration in Turkey. Migration and Belonging. Abgerufen am 7. Februar 2026 von https://doi.org/10.58079/152mc


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