Tucker Comparative Migration Studies (2018) 6:29 Discussion In general, the findings from the interviews showed a very high degree of destination specificity towards Sweden for the vast majority of the participants. This was based on the participants’ perception of the ease and expediency of securing permanent residency and acquiring citizenship in the country. While citizenship was specified as an important pull factor, this was often interrelated with other factors. Most notably, conceptualisations of the role of social networks prove useful to draw upon here to deepen our understanding of asylum destination decisions. Many of the participants had detailed knowledge of the asylum system and citizenship laws and policies in several European countries, having done research which drew on a range of sources. The most significant of these was information from social networks. This information related to the treatment of asylum seekers in the country, the likelihood of their asylum claim being accepted and the ease at which citizenship could be acquired thereafter for themselves and their families. This corroborates previous work on the perception of the asylum system being influential in destination decision making (see Brekke & Aarset, 2009; Neumayer, 2004). However, it is argued here that for the participants the perception of the asylum system was just part of their overall focus on access to citizenship. This was because without being recognised and given a legal status the acquisition of citizenship would not be possible. With regard to social networks, nearly all those interviewed had close family in countries other than Syria. In addition, all of them had drawn on information from social networks during their journey (though not always with regard to their asylum destination). Interestingly, about half the participants in Sweden noted that they had not drawn on strong family ties in other countries, explaining that these were rejected in order to reach Sweden to access citizenship as quickly as possible. This was illustrated in three cases where close family members living in Germany and Denmark drove the participants to Sweden to complete the final leg of their journey. The participants decided to decline offers to stay with these family members long term, instead deciding to continue to Sweden where they had no, or very weak ties, but where they knew they could acquire citizenship faster. In addition, many participants stayed with family members for short periods of time in various countries as they moved up through Europe. These were most often uncles, aunts and cousins, but in a few cases, they were siblings and parents. Building upon the work of Collyer (2005), we should consider that it is not just strict immigration policies that can impact migrants’ ability to draw on strong familial ties, but for stateless migrants it would be advisable to also consider the impact of citizenship law and policies in this regard. In relation to this, we can also see the devaluing of human capital compared to acquiring citizenship. Several participants noted how they could have more effectively capitalised on human capital in countries other than Sweden (such as knowledge of languages etc.). However, this was either not possible due to restrictive immigration rules, or not as important as citizenship. Thus, while social networks and human capital were influential in asylum destination decision making this did not necessarily lead to chain migration as it was most often devalued as compared to acquiring citizenship. The decision on which country to seek asylum in was made at various times by the participants. For the majority, it was made while still in Syria. A few participants however undertook onward migration, changing their asylum destination as a result of their Page 14 of 17