A Qualitative Research on The Migration Experiences of Migrant Women in Erzurum

Abstract

Migration, which is defined as the departure of people from the society and environment they live in with the intention of having better living conditions or moving away from the people where they live, with the intention of moving to a safer place, is a phenomenon observed throughout history as it is today. Although people's perceptions and reactions to migration, such as migration, vary due to the structural characteristics of societies and cultures, migration is one of the most important social problems that concern all humanity and that all humanity has to face. Today, this problem is among the most important items that determine international relations and problems. While migration itself is a problem, it also includes the problems experienced by special groups such as children, women, sick, disabled and elderly people due to migration. In this study, it is aimed to examine the attitudes of the women who migrated to Erzurum by leaving their place of residence and individuals for various reasons, the emotional and social loneliness they experienced during the process of being a migrant woman and the factors that affect this, and what their attitudes might be if they become a host. For this purpose, immigrant women in Erzurum were reached by snowball sampling method and in-depth interview method was used. The obtained data were analyzed with the NVIVO 12 program. As a result of the analysis, migrant women are generally satisfied with the hosting of the people of Erzurum and their communication with other immigrants, there are those who receive the moral support they expect after coming from the individuals they have started to migrate, and those who do not, and they migrate to Turkey in order to meet their children's education needs and because of the lack of safety because of the war. It was observed that almost all of those who participated in the study because they were very satisfied, migrated under very difficult conditions and for other reasons had mental/psychological problems and missed their families and homeland very much. It was also seen that they expressed that they would treat immigrant women very compassionately and well if they became host. It has been concluded that the women living in Erzurum are satisfied with the local people, but their children are exposed to exclusion and beaten, as immigrants are seen as a threat in terms of both culture and job opportunities of the local people in Turkey. Some studies have revealed that children feel the social exclusion of parents on themselves and that immigrant students are directly exposed to social exclusion by their peers.