Forced Migration and Transnational Family Arrangements – Eritrean and Syrian Refugees in Germany (TransFAR)

TransFAR is a research project conceived and carried out by the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) in cooperation with the Research Centre of the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF-FZ).

News

News

2023 | Throughout 2023, we have presented our ongoing work based on TransFAR data at several scientific events:

• DJI Lunchbag Sessions „Familie am Mittag“, online
• 20th IMISCOE Annual Conference, Warsaw, Poland
• BiB Turning Gold Conference, Wiesbaden, Germany
• Conference organized by BiB, ECSR and EAPS: “Fertility and Family Dynamics in Migrant and Minority Groups: Current Research and New Approaches in Times of Crises, Wiesbaden, Germany

02.03. - 03.03.2023 Conference participation “Comparing Recent and Older Refugee Migration in and to Europe – Sociological Perspectives“ in Bamberg, Germany

Lenore Sauer, Ludovica Gambaro and Elisabeth K. Kraus presented their contribution "Transnational emotional support networks of recently arrived refugees in Germany: variations by gender and country of origin" based on TransFAR data. They analyze personal social networks of Eritrean and Syrian refugees in the years after their arrival in Germany. You can find a brief conference report here (in German).

28.09.2022 | New Researcher Dr. Ludovica Gambaro

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Ludovica Gambaro has joined our TransFAR team at BiB, starting from September 1, 2022.

29.06. - 02.07.2022 | Presenting new research at the EPC Conference 2022

At this year's European Population Conference (EPC) in Groningen/Netherlands, Lenore Sauer presented initial findings regarding forced migration and remittances.

31.03. - 01.04.2022 | Presenting TransFAR project at FReDA Methodological Workshop

At the FReDA methodological workshop, Lenore Sauer presented the TransFAR project and the underlying aim, scope and survey design, and she also provided first results regarding transnational family structures and social networks.

09.01.2022 | New publication on personal social networks of recent refugees in Germany

In their new study, Lenore Sauer and Elisabeth K. Kraus analyze the composition of the personal social networks and their interrelation with the family context of recently arrived refugees in Germany by using the Refugee Sample of the German Socio-Economic Panel (2017). The findings suggest that refugees living without their partner, children, or extended family in Germany are more likely to have at least one close non-kin confidant. The same holds true for inter-ethnic contacts. Moreover, the results show that also opportunity structures like the workplace or leisure-time activities matter.

The findings have been published in "Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies".

07.02.2022 | Methodology report on the study „Forced Migration and Transnational Family Arrangements: Eritrean and Syrian Refugees in Germany“ (TransFAR)

This methodology report documents the procedure for preparing and conducting the quantitative survey as part of the TransFAR study. It presents the conception of the study, the sampling and the survey mode, the development and translation of the questionnaire, the implementation of the pretest as well as the extensive data cleaning and processing. Here, the focus is both on checking the filtering and the plausibility of the collected data as well as on the calculation of weights. The appendix of the methodology report contains the invitation letter and the data protection statement, all documents required for conducting the survey, the documents of the interviewer training and the questionnaire documentation (code plan). The report can be downloaded here.

22.12.2021 | New Open Access Publication with TransFAR-data

Our collegues Elisabeth K. Kraus and Kamal Kassam co-authored a new paper together with Lydia Repke (GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences), Henning Silber (GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences) Ipek Bilgen (NORC at the University of Chicago) and Timothy P. Johnson (University of Illinois at Chicago, University of Chicago). The paper was published in easy_social_sciences (in short: easy) a transfer journal published biannually by the GESIS Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences. Using the pretest data of TransFAR, the authors investigate the composition of social networks of Eritrean and Syrian refugees living in Germany. The paper is Open Access and can be downloaded here.

07./08.10.2021 | Presenting new research at the ECSR Annual Conference 2021

At this year's European Consortium for Sociological Research (ESCR) Annual Conference, Lenore Sauer presented the TransFAR project and the underlying aim, scope and survey design, and she also provided first results regarding transnational family structures and social networks.

13.07.2021 | BiB-Podcast: Familienleben Geflüchteter aus Syrien und Eritrea in Deutschland (German)

In a new episode of the BiB podcast series "Population Research - Demographic Insights into Social Change", Dr. Lenore Sauer and Dr. Elisabeth K. Kraus, talk about the social integration of people from Eritrea and Syria in Germany. The two researchers also address questions like, what role the family plays in the decision to leave the home country, and which interactions exist between family members across national borders. In this context, they talk also about the role of refugees' contacts as well as their (German) friends, and the support they receive from volunteers and professional helpers, in the social integration of refugees in Germany.

The podcast is available via "Spotify" and "Pocket Casts".

07./08.07.2021 | Presenting new research at the 18th IMISCOE Annual Conference: Crossing borders, connecting cultures online conference

This year’s IMISCOE online conference features two TransFAR-related presentations: Dr. Elisabeth K. Kraus used TransFAR data to investigate the extent and patterns of transnational family structures among Eritrean and Syrian refugees and explore the determinants for diverse arrangements. Kamal Kassam presented the TransFAR project and the underlying survey design, methodological approaches as well as the challenges, and he provided first results drawn from the TransFAR data. After the presentations there was also a lively debate on the topic and very positive and constructive feedback.

06.05.2021 | Presenting new research at the DIW workshop: Women on the Move – Current Perspectives on Female Migration

Kamal Kassam presented initial findings regarding the labor market participation of refugee women and the role of personal social networks and family dynamics at the DIW workshop: Women on the Move – Current Perspectives on Female Migration.