A survey by the Gaziantep-based Operations and Policy Center (OPC) showed that 63 percent of Syrians living in regime-run areas want to move elsewhere compared to 36.5 percent who insist on staying.
The study targeted a sample of 600 respondents, achieving a reasonable degree of balance in terms of gender, age, education, and living standards.
It relied on a team of local field researchers who conducted standardized interviews with sample respondents, based on a questionnaire that observed the most prominent variables in attitudes toward emigration.
According to the Senior Researcher at OPC, Sultan Jalabi, who conducted the survey, the majority of those wishing to leave their homes are young people of both sexes, single, and educated.
“The younger the age and the higher the level of education, the greater the desire to emigrate.”
For the preferred destination, the majority chose Western countries (especially Germany, Sweden, and Canada), Arab Gulf countries came in second place and Syria’s neighboring countries third.
The results showed that 60 percent of sample respondents would want to move elsewhere due to the deteriorating living conditions, especially during the last two years, followed by those seeking job opportunities and trying to escape compulsory military service.
Survey results regarding obstacles to emigration showed that the largest percentage of respondents simply do not have the money to leave the country.
Family ties and fears about dangerous undocumented migration routes also played prominent roles in reasons for delaying or dismissing the travel.
