Right to mobility, right to belong: Bottom-up citizenship practices of Syrian refugees in Europe

Abstract Through a small-scale interview study with Syrians with Swedish citizenship who have either relocated to, or are regularly visiting, the UK, this article sheds light on the nexus between mobility and bottom-up citizenship practices of refugees in Europe. We mobilize the twin concepts of ‘affective’ and ‘instrumental’ citizenship to highlight how refugees’ quest for belonging and safety challenges usual assumptions about displacement: first, our data defy push-pull models of migration, showing that quick access to naturalization and generous welfare policies attracted some Syrians to Sweden, but were not enough to make them stay. The fact that for those leaving Sweden, the UK was only one possible destination—with other Syrians moving to the Global South—calls into question a hierarchy of desirable destinations with Western and Northern Europe at the top. Second, seen through the lens of affect, refugees’ and host states’ interactions are not merely legalistic or bureaucratic: while our interlocutors perceived Swedish welfare interventions and political discourse as top-down affective control, they also engaged in grassroots practices of affective citizenship, devising alternative forms of belonging through mobility. Ultimately, affective citizenship can inform ambitions to stay, or move on, regardless of how affluent host countries are. Third, while our protagonists’ back-and-forth movements point to the non-linearity of refugee journeys, their use of the UK’s EU Settlement Scheme as a deferred ‘insurance policy’ highlights the complexity of temporalities of displacement. Legal security may not be sufficient to ending refugees’ lingering feelings of insecurity, and thus not preclude further mobility-based strategies.