Diasporas establish a wide range of associations to promote the adaptation of their members to new societies, but they also promote their own culture, provide members with practical assistance, defend their interests, overcome their isolation and maintain links with the homeland. The role of diaspora associations is crucial in incorporating newly-arrived refugees into new environments too. They might contribute to the incorporation process by acting in areas to which local authorities have limited access. On the other hand, they might lead to segregation and parallel societies that deter the newly-arrived refugees from social, cultural and institutional participation in new countries. What drives pre-established diaspora associations to pursue particular strategies of adaptation or those of segregation? This research proposal sets out to examine the ways in which pre-established Kurdish diaspora organisations shape the reception and incorporation processes of newly-arrived Kurdish refugees in new societies. It hypothesizes that diaspora associations play a decisive role in the refugees’ adaptation to new environments if incorporation regimes adopt inclusive policies toward these associations and offer them adequate incentives for cooperation. To test the hypothesis and answer these research questions, I have collected empirical data through ethnographic fieldwork and participant observation, and have conducted 230 in-depth interviews with leaders of diaspora associations and recent refugees in capital and border cities of Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, France and Italy. Based on the comparative and interpretive analysis of the collected data, this project will yield fresh insights into complex relationships between diaspora associations, refugees and state authorities. By investigating this triple relationship, this study sheds light on the way in which diasporas produce a balanced mode of refugee governance from below that contributes to the refugees’ incorporation process and the reformation of incorporation regimes.