PhD Defence Abduhalim Albakkor - 'Between belonging and longing to belong'
We are delighted to invite you to celebrate an important milestone, the public defence of Abduhalim Albakkor’s PhD dissertation, 'Between Belonging and Longing to Belong: Gendered and Intergenerational Lived Experiences of Syrian Refugees Navigating Migration and Integration in Dutch Society'.
The defence will take place at Campus Fryslân, De Beurs (Wirdumerdijk 34, 8911 CE Leeuwarden) on Thursday, 18 December 2025.
Programme for the day:
10:00 – 10:30 | Walk-in
10:30 – 10:45 | Layperson’s Talk
11:00 – 12:15 | PhD Defence Ceremony
For those unable to attend in person, the defence will also be streamed online. You are warmly invited to follow via the link.
The Layperson’s Talk will offer an accessible and engaging introduction to Halim’s research. This will be followed by the formal Defence Ceremony, during which he will present and discuss his dissertation with the examination committee.
On the thesis
This PhD research explores how Syrian refugees in the Netherlands experience belonging in their everyday lives. Instead of focusing mainly on policies or jobs, it looks at feelings, relationships, and identity, and how people cope with displacement and exclusion.
The study shows that belonging is not fixed. Even when Syrians are legally accepted, they may still feel culturally excluded. This ongoing movement between feeling included and excluded is described as a pendulum of belonging.
Experiences differ across generations and between women and men. Younger Syrians often find new opportunities through education, while older refugees face more barriers and the loss of professional roles. Despite these challenges, many refugees show resilience by rebuilding family life and maintaining ties to both Syria and the Netherlands. The research highlights that integration is also emotional and relational, and that refugees actively work to create a sense of belonging. You can read the entire research here.
About Abduhalim Albakkor
Abdulhalim Albakkor is a researcher affiliated with Campus Fryslân at the University of Groningen. His work focuses on forced migration, integration, and belonging, with particular attention to gendered and intergenerational experiences of refugees. Drawing on ethnographic and reflexive approaches, his research highlights the emotional and relational dimensions of displacement and the ways refugees actively rebuild their lives and identities in Europe.