Extended Summary

International migration is a phenomenon significantly leading to the processes of societal change, demographic and economic transformation not only in urban areas but also in rural and mountainous regions. Migration circle has expanded from urban areas to rural and remote areas over the last decade, mainly because of the growing pace of forced migration. In addition, the importance of rural development and the presence of immigrants in rural destinations have become even more prevalent with the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic all over the world. Nonetheless, there are nascent studies emphasizing the potential of immigration to trigger development in medium and long run in rural places. It is still an understudied field, compared to the available studies conducted in urban context. In this context, this article was written to draw attention to the gap in the existing literature dealing with the rural dimensions of migration and labour market integration.

This article scrutinizes the participation of immigrants in the labor market in rural areas and its effect on the local economy in the rural area of Karacabey, Bursa in Turkey. The impact of international migrants on labor markets in rural and mountainous regions is at the center of this research, which was conducted with participatory action research technics. This article encompasses a variety of issues such as agriculture-based development, the efficiency of agricultural workforce, and development of regional belonging among newcomers. The province of Bursa is renowned to be very much familiar with the experience of migration of so many different kinds of people over the centuries. Bursa’s migration history and rural Karacabey’s prominent location with agricultural production and agricultural production-based industry have provided us with a productive research field to understand possible effects of immigrant workforce on local development processes. Based on the in-depth interviews with seasonal Syrian and Afghan migrants as well as with local actors, our field research was conducted in Karacabey, Bursa, in the summer of 2021. Other research techniques such as focus group discussions, roundtables and participant observation were also utilized during the fieldwork. The field research was carried out within the scope of the “Migration Impact Assessment to Enhance Integration and Local Development in European Rural and Mountain Regions” (MATILDE) Project supported by the European Union Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme. In addition to the qualitative data obtained from the field and field observations, the article also utilizes primary statistical information reached through direct communication with official institutions and local stakeholders. In doing so, the problem of lack of reliable data in Turkey, especially at the local level, has been partly overcome.

Considering the structural problems in rural areas such as the aging population, internal migration, the existence of idle agricultural lands, industrialization and other environmental problems, it has been observed that the need for migrant labor has gradually increased, but the administrative processes have failed to adequately manage this demographic transformation. In terms of rural labor market, although immigration to rural areas is still dominated by the demand for temporary jobs in agriculture, the labor shortage is an important challenge not only in seasonal agricultural labor force, but also in agriculture and animal husbandry-based industry. Regarding the case study of rural Karacabey, especially in terms of intermediate and technical personnel, the shortage of local workforce turns vocational training and employment of migrant labor into an opportunity. However, the existing regulations regarding the employment of foreigners, especially migrants under temporary protection status, does not play a very facilitating role in terms of sustainable employment. Informality, which is one of the most important structural problems in Turkey’s economy, is also directly reflected in the local economy and rural labor market. While the temporary protection status of Syrian immigrants can easily turn into the exploitation of unregistered immigrant labor, especially in the agricultural sector, the difficulty of accessing citizenship also creates a deterrent for foreign investment and job creation opportunities in the local labor market. Considering the recent negative attitudes towards immigrant-origin people, especially the Afghans and Syrians, there are also increasing problems regarding the integration of migrants into social and economic life of local destinations. It is rather difficult to expect immigrants to contribute better to their local environment and to the local development processes without overcoming the current lack of interaction between local people and immigrant communities. Hence, this article scrutinizes the problems, opportunities and potentials that international migration poses in remote rural and agricultural areas in Turkey. The article also demonstrates that Karacabey is a case study that could unfold different aspects of sustainable rural development.

In conclusion, the article reveals that Karacabey confronts some difficulties such as the lack of sustainable development, the lack of ability of local and central actors collaborating in cooperation based on trust, and the problems resulting from the loopholes of the inheritance law preventing the agricultural lands from being utilized. Further, the article draws attention to the potential aspects of the immigrant labor force in the local development process that have been so far ignored in Turkey as well as in Europe.