The Role of Collective Hypervisibility in Everyday Lives of Refugees: The Syrian Refugee Hubs in Metropolitan Areas of Turkey

Abstract

This paper examines refugee hubs that attract heightened scrutiny and opportunities for integration. Focusing on Turkey, we argue these hubs offer a sense of protection and expose refugees to increased control by authorities. Thus, we introduce the concept of collective hypervisibility to analyse how Syrian refugees in two Turkish hubs articulate and perceive their lived experiences through both positive and negative perspectives as a group. Refugees often view these neighbourhoods as shields from typical integration challenges faced by newcomers. However, living in such spaces also renders them targets, as all refugees are perceived as a homogeneous group, ignoring individual differences. By exploring refugee perceptions, we reveal shared dynamics across refugee hubs and offer insights relevant to similar contexts globally.