New country, new ties? Eritrean and Syrian refugees’ personal social networks after arrival in Germany

Abstract This paper examines the new ties refugees form within the first years after arriving in destination countries. While prior research has assessed new ties mainly in relation to integration outcomes and within inter-ethnic ties, our analyses take a broader view of the importance of new contacts by systematically adopting an ego-centric network approach and by differentiating between various types of networks (emotional support, companionship, and practical support network). Drawing on representative quantitative survey data of recent refugees from Eritrea and Syria collected in Germany in 2020 (TransFAR survey), our analytical approach is divided into two parts: First, we investigate on the alter-level (i.e., the persons mentioned in the network) who the newly met persons are and which kind of support they provide, employing descriptive analyses. Second, we conduct multivariate regression analyses on the ego-level (i.e., the respondent) to examine the migration and family-related factors associated with forming new ties. The empirical findings underscore the importance of new contacts as crucial sources of resources and support, particularly in providing practical assistance. Furthermore, our study shows that migration and family-related factors are important for establishing new ties: refugees having other family members in Germany, either a spouse or because they arrived together with kin, are less likely to include newly established contacts in their networks compared to those without a spouse or who arrived in Germany without family. The relative importance of these factors varies between network types. Moreover, as migration circumstances and family constellations differ by gender and country of origin, substantial variations concerning the formation of new ties are observed between men and women and between refugees from Eritrea and Syria.