Who is (un)deserving? Differential healthcare access and the interplay between social and symbolic boundary-drawing towards Syrian refugees in Turkey

Although the degree to which social services should be extended to
migrant groups by the state has occupied migration and welfare
scholars’ agenda for a long time, how perceptions of
deservingness on migrant groups’ social welfare entitlements can
show a constraining character and rigidify boundaries have not
yet received the full attention it deserves. Based on a qualitative
case study with Turkish citizens in Adana, this paper explores
how differential policies on healthcare access can shape insiders’
narratives on outsiders and grounds for social and symbolic
boundaries; and how boundary work interacts with insiders’
perceptions of welfare deservingness. The findings indicate that,
facing unequal access to healthcare, host society members define
institutionalised worthiness between Turkish citizens and Syrian
refugees. The mobilisation of institutional worthiness with
regards to differential healthcare access, therefore, not only
forges host society members’ perspectives towards Syrians, but
also the degree of deservingness regarding who contributes
more to the national well-being and who deserves more benefits.