The analysis of the conceptualisations relating to the Syrian refugees started from using the list of clusters generated by AntConc. The data in Table 1 is extracted from the full list of clusters generated by AntConc. The list in Table 1 includes thirty cluster types relating to the word ‘Syrian’ and occurring more than once. ‘Syrian’ is clustered with human entities such as ‘refugees’, ‘families’, and ‘children’ and to non-human entities such as ‘crisis’, ‘conflict’, and ‘border’. Both entities are studied in this article since they relate to the Syrian refugees.
Table 1. Clusters of ‘Syrian’
|
Rank
|
Frequency
|
Cluster
|
Rank
|
Frequency
|
Cluster
|
|
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
|
641
123
31
28
25
23
18
15
12
11
8
7
6
5
5
|
syrian refugees
syrian refugee
syrian families
syrian children
syrian arab
syrian crisis
syrian conflict
syrian people
syrian border
syrian nationals
syrian civilians
syrian side
syrian kurds
syrian asylum
syrian students
|
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
|
4
4
3
3
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
|
syrian authorities
syrian child
syrian capital
syrian city
syrian government
syrian arrivals
syrian ballet
syrian men
syrian population
syrian pound
syrian relatives
syrian resettlement
syrian swimmers
syrian toddler
syrian women
|
|
Total frequency of clusters
|
995
|
Table 2 includes the conceptualisations of the Syrian refugees and the number of instances where the conceptualisations were used in the concordances. The difference between the number of occurrences and the total frequency of the cluster is due to those concordances which do not include a conceptualisation of the refugees.
Table 2
Conceptualisations of the Syrian refugees
| Conceptualisations | Number of occurrences |
| 1. The Syrian refugees are the mass filling containers | 476 |
| 2. The refugees’ journey back/repatriation | 52 |
| 3. The refugees seeking for shelter/fleeing and the resulting influx/wave | 52 |
| 4. The Syrian refugees and their needs are a concern/burden/threat | 377 |
| Total | 957 |
Summing up the different conceptual metaphors found in four categories is motivated by the following reason. A reading of the corpus as a whole and the concordances including clusters on ‘Syrian’ shows the interconnectedness established between the action of the Syrian refugees of moving to other countries or other parts inside Syria and the outcomes of such action. For this reason, the conceptual metaphors relating to the Syrian refugees are summed up in Fig. 4 and Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 are specific instances in this entangled relationship. Table 2 shows that the first three conceptualisations relate to the movement of the refugees and the places they reach and settle in. These three conceptualisations amount to 60.6% of the total number of instances. This shows the important space dedicated to the action of the Syrian refugees and to the resulting consequences of this action. The action of fleeing can also be interpreted when comparing it to the conceptualisations about the efforts made to deal with the situation.
One of the conceptual networks which are integrated in Fig. 4 is the conceptualisation of the host countries as containers with a capacity and the conceptualisation of the Syrian refugees as the substance filling these containers. This pattern is present in Fig. 2 where out of the two mental spaces constructed in the emergent structure the fleeing of the Syrian refugees conceptualises them as numbers spreading beyond the limits of the capacity of more than one single country. Hence the fostering of the idea that there is one substance (the mass of refugees) and many containers (the host countries). Over the period of 10 years the same pattern is present; the Syrian refugees are leaving their country and settling in an increasing number of countries. In addition to the increase in the number of countries, their geographical location is widening. In 2011, the host countries were those sharing borders with Syria: Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, and Turkey. As time passes, the refugees reach other countries such as Canada and Chili. An issue presented as of concern raised from the action of the Syrians leaving their country is the host countries being overwhelmed by the mass entering them. The following are examples of concordances including clusters of ‘Syrian refugees’ and numbers. Examples 4, 5, and 6 show the consistent counting of the refugees is clustered by the gradual to severe rise in their numbers. Such counting of the number of refugees presents them as figures in motion i.e. as numbers moving from one place to other places inside and outside Syria.
Example 4: our registration statistics on 18 July, 120,000 Syrian refugees sought protection in Jordan, Lebanon,
Example 5: burden sharing to the more than 2.7 million Syrian refugees in the region and their host
Example 6: After ten years, half of the Syrian population has been forced to flee their homes.
The discrepancy between the number of containers and the number of refugees is further highlighted by showing that the continuous increasing number of refugees is a problem for the host countries. The first manifestation of this problem is that the containers (host countries) ended by being overfilled and unable to continue receiving more refugees. By 2020, there are about 7 million Syrian refugees around the world and 6 million of them are in Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Turkey, and Egypt. The second manifestation of the problem of increasing numbers is the change in the host countries’ behaviour. Example 7 shows that back in 2011, the ‘pro-active role’ of the Lebanese government welcoming refugees soon changed because a few months later the hundreds of refugees turned into hundreds of thousands (as seen in example 8):
Example 7: in Bekaa today, Lebanon and its people have welcomed Syrian refugees with open borders as well as open arms
Example 8: The influx is accelerating. In April 2012, there were 18,000 Syrian refugees in Lebanon; by April 2013, there were 356,000, and now, in in Lebanon; by April 2013, there were 356,000, and now, in April 2014, 1 million.
Example 8 and the analysis of the conceptual blending networks in Figure 2 and Figure 3 show the act of keeping the borders open turns to be a problem for the host countries. Hence, the Syrian refugees are represented not only numbers overwhelming the host countries, but also a cause of unprecedented problems for these countries. The host countries are represented as struggling to stay in control over their borders. Keeping the borders open turns to be a sign of their support of the refugees. Figure 3 shows that the shared cross-space mappings between I1 and I2 in a metaphoric blend result in the two different entities being joined by the same end; ‘the need of support’. The result of two different set of actions (fleeing and hosting on the one hand and keeping the doors open and providing response plans on the other) of two different actors (the Syrian refugees and host countries) amounts to I1 and I2 being fused through composition. This means that the emergent structure produced by the blending process is one where a new relationship is created. In this relationship, the Syrian refugees (and more specifically their number and geographical distribution) are conceptualised as exhausting the resources of the host countries, the UNHCR, and other NGOs. In the emergent structure in Figure 2 which occurs by completion (i.e. exodus of the refugees) both the refugees and the host countries suffer from the action of fleeing. Examples 9, 10, and 11 show the aggravation of problems already existing in the host countries and the rise of new problems. Problems such as the deterioration of the health and education infrastructure led to the host countries’ failure to provide for the refugees:
Example 9: in London donors committed to a plan to reach 1.7 million Syrian refugee and affected host-community children and youth in Lebanon,
Example 10: fragile and needs continued support. Failure to support refugees and host communities risks a deterioration in humanitarian conditions
Example 11: “The countries hosting Syrian refugees are struggling with the massive impact on their economies, societies, and infrastructure threatening not only their stability the stability of the entire region
The elaboration of the structures in the blends in Figure 2 and Figure 3 show not only the scope of the problems encountered, but also the repercussions of trying to solve these problems. In 2021, both the host countries and the UNHCR tried to deal with the problems resulting from the exodus. Example 12 shows that few months later the UNHCR started assisting both the refugees and the host communities:
Example 12: UN and partners launch plan to support over five million Syrian refugees and countries hosting them United Nations agencies and NGO
Within this situation, although the UNHCR is not the container of the influx of refugees, it contains their needs as well as the host countries’. Furthermore, both containers (host countries and UNHCR) are in an on-going expansion since the events in Syria are not over yet by mid-2021. Besides, the Syrians’ action of seeking refuge created a third type of containers. Syria contains internally displaced refugees across the country and in camps. Both the host countries and the refugee camps inside Syria share the same features. There are many camps (Ein Issa, Al Hol, Mabrouka …) and the number of refugees is high. In the case of the internally displaced Syrian refugees, the perspective of the host countries being affected by trying to afford for the refugees is absent since there is no reference to the Syrian Government efforts to assist the refugees. In this case too, as seen in examples 13 and 14, the UNHCR and other NGOs are looking after the Syrian refugees’ essentials:
Example 13: Refugee Agency delivers 80 metric tons of core relief items to internally displaced persons in Nubul and Zahra in Aleppo governorate, Syria
Example 14: to help prepare many of Syria’s more than 4.25 million internally displaced persons for the upcoming winter. Overall, relief agencies estimate
The conclusion that could be drawn from Figure 3 and Figure 4 is that the number of the Syrian refugees and the issue of keeping the borders open are the main elements in the conceptualisation of ‘the burden’. In addition to the exhaustion of assisting millions of refugees, keeping the borders open for them to reach safe places turned to be the root of many problems for the host countries. With the widening of the dispersion of the refugees these host countries became the new borders. In this situation pressure turned from keeping the borders open to keeping them closed so the Syrian refugees in the host countries and camps do not leave them to other countries. Turkey is an example of host countries becoming the new border. The concern is that opening Turkish borders means more problems to Greece and other EU countries. Examples 15, 16, and 17 show how the management ‘the burden’ is being used by the parties affected by the exodus. The UNHCR, from its part, keeps to its NGO role of assisting those concerned (both the refugees and the host countries):
Example 15: Greece, and other States on the EU external border, should not be left alone. Continued European resources, capacity and solidarity are needed to boost Greece’s response.
Example 16: At the same time, international support to Turkey, which already hosts millions of refugees, as well as other countries neighbouring Syria, must be sustained and stepped up.
Example 17: As the Syrian crisis enters its tenth year, the Syrian people continue to experience acute tragedy. Every second Syrian man, woman and child has been forcibly displaced since the start of the conflict in March 2011
The three input spaces in Figure 4 explicitly specify the place and role of the UNRA in dealing with the Syrian refugees. In Figure 4 three input spaces are constructed and enter into a conceptual integration network. The cross-space mapping between I1, I2, and I3 is between five counterpart elements. Out of these five counterpart elements only three from I1 and I3 and two from I2 are projected into the blend and are fused through elaboration. The emergent structure arises in the blend out of the fusion of two counterpart elements from I1 and I3. The cognitive work done within the blend and more specifically in the emergent structure gives rise to ‘tension’. Figures 2 and 3 dealt with the nature of the agents present in the corpus and the kind of action carried out by each agent. Figure 4 links the agents and their actions to the outcome of such actions (fleeing – assisting – hosting). The cross-space mappings between the three input spaces show that the three share one cross-space mapping which is ‘concerns + needs’. This conceptualisation of ‘concerns and needs’ as the only common effect the different agents share results in highlighting the impact of the action of fleeing on them. This foregrounding of three parties sharing the same effect does not hide the fact that they deal with it in different ways.
The result of the action present in the emergent structure leads to ‘tension’. The absence of the UNRA in the emergent structure shows that the three participants are co-present, but their actions lead to different outcomes. One of the causes of reaching different outcomes is the issue of specifying who/what stands behind the tension. This can be seen in example 21 where ‘the crisis’ is named as the direct cause of the tension between countries:
Example 21: As EU leaders meet in Brussels today and tomorrow, UNHCR is urging them to unite behind emergency proposals to manage the refugee and migration crisis that is becoming increasingly chaotic and unpredictable. This may be the last opportunity for a coherent European response to manage a crisis that is increasing suffering and exploitation of refugees and migrants and tension between countries.
Naming ‘the crisis’ are the cause of tension reveals how the UNRA defines who are We. Starting from including the three input spaces, We narrows down to include I2 and I3 and then I2 (the UNRA) since the press releases are about its efforts. The scope of inclusiveness of We reveals what is de-emphasised in the representation of the Syrian refugees. The in-between position of the UNRA foregrounds its equal dealing with the refugees and the host countries to background its absence from the emergent structure i.e. from the tension resulting from categorising the Syrian Refugees and the host countries as Them. Such pattern of Us and Them is not only the UNRA’s main strategy to conceptualise its relationships, but also it allows it to avoid conceptualising the three participants as Us vs. Them. Accordingly, from 2011 to 2021, the conceptual networks show the UNRA’s tendency to represent the different parties in terms of co-presence and working together rather than Our actions vs. Their action. This Us and Them strategy also allows justifying why emphasis is on Us rather than on Them. Us is defined with regard to the in-between position of the UNRA and its sharing of ‘concerns and needs’ with the refugees and host countries. Us is also the UNRA and the host countries (and others) who are involved in dealing with the refugees. The following quote relates to NGOs approach when it comes to specifying being among Us or among Them:
Even a cursory review of the literature on development reveals that NGOs are the new patrons of public interest, posing a serious challenge to the legitimate function of the state. That is, among the range of organized forces and institutions of civil society, NGOs are regarded as representing the interests of the people, to the greatest extent possible. In other words, NGOs have come to replace other well-established political organizations such as trade unions, welfare associations, religious organizations and trade associations that traditionally represent the interests of various constituencies of society. In relation to these organizations, it is argued that NGOs represent the interests of the broadest swath of people, the poor and the underprivileged of society, who tend to have no structures of representation in public affairs, except perhaps the right to vote during election time. (Kamat, 2004, p. 157)
The quote sheds light on the power hierarchy at the bottom of which are ‘the swath’ of people and in which the interest to serve them becomes a cover for defining Us and Them. In the case of the UNRA, the common knowledge about its humanitarian interest is used as a source to represent the category of the Syrian refugees. This is also seen in how the UNRA, for example, opposes sending the refugees back to Syria without safety guarantees. Thus, the Syrian refugees’ action of fleeing turns to be one more source of positive self-representation for the UNRA. This strategy of emphasising positive self-representation provides insight into the mental representations of the category dealt with (Syrian refugees), the category of the audience/readers of the press releases, and the category of who published those press releases.
Positive self-representation is also carried out through showing the consequence of leaving the refugees and the host counties without the UNRA. In this argument, the UNRA is needed to provide a space where both the Syrian refugees and the host countries interact despite their uncomfortable relationship. The contextual strategy of positive self-representation and negative other-representation reveals that depending on who are Us and who are Them, the power relations between the two groups is set. This is seen in the blend in Figure 4 which does not foreground negative other-representation despite the absence of the UNRA in the emergent structure.
With reference to the context in which the press releases were written and with specific focus on the time span and the geographical distribution of the refugees, the feedback from the blend space to its inputs provides more insights into the UNRA conceptualisation of the intervening parties between 2011 and 2021. Tension grows or diminished in function of the number of refugees, the economic situation of the host countries, and the time span the refugees spend in those countries or those camps inside Syria. The result is that I1, I2, and I3 as well as the blend spaces become related in a network characterised by an on-going status. The action of fleeing Syria to host countries has been taking more than 11 year and more refugees are fleeing their homeland, camps or host countries and the UNRA and other countries will have to deal with the crisis for years to come. Tension is also affected by the results of the relocation of the refugees and ‘asking’ them to go back to Syria. Hence, the constant fleeing and actions to curve it mark the on-going relationship between the different parties.