Navigating a Paradox: Well-Being and Dimensions of (Non-)Belonging of Syrian Refugees in Austria

ABSTRACT This article examines the challenges Syrian refugees who arrived in Austria between 2008 and 2021 face in building social capital, where a lack of connectedness to the host community presents a key obstacle to their sense of belonging. The study discusses the complex and nuanced concept of belonging among the surveyed Syrian refugees, highlighting paradoxes such as feeling culturally connected yet socially isolated within Austrian society. By examining the impact of social ties with family, ethnic community, host community and broader society, we gain a more comprehensive understanding of their influences. Based on our own cross-sectional Social Integration and Mental Well-being survey conducted in Arabic with a sample of 258 Syrians, the findings suggest that Syrians, while having strong social ties with family and satisfactory connections with their ethnic, national and religious communities, lack a profound sense of belonging to Austrian society as a whole. They appear to experience a contradictory state of both belonging and not belonging, expressing low levels of connectedness with the host community, but also a reluctance to acknowledge social exclusion or discrimination. This paradoxical situation may be explained by the “excluded belonging” experienced by this group and the existence of an “integration paradox”.