Recently, Carnegie released a major report on Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Jordan titled “Unheard Voices: What Syrian Refugees Need to Return Home.” The lead author was Maha Yahya, director of the Carnegie Middle East Center, who has worked extensively on refugee questions in recent years and has published several articles on the topic at Diwan. The purpose of the report was to outline refugee attitudes toward the prospect of return, and determine what preconditions refugees might have before deciding to go home. The report found that, “[w]hat is most striking is that despite the increasingly difficult challenges they face, a majority are unwilling to go back unless a political transition can assure their safety and security, access to justice, and right of return to areas of origin.” Diwan sat down with Yahya in mid-April to discuss the report and its wider implications.
Giving Refugees an Ear
Maha Yahya discusses a major Carnegie report on what it will take for displaced Syrians to return to their country.
More work from Carnegie
Conflict and RefugeesThe evolving conflicts in the Arab region have been the cause for the world’s largest waves of migration and displacement since World War II. Carnegie scholars in Beirut, Brussels and Washington unpack the consequences of the refugee crises on Europe, and their implications (the Syrian refugee crisis in particular) on the politics, economy and security of the Middle East.
Why Tunisia Lost Faith in DemocracyFor many in the society, the post-Ben Ali years were mainly about successive economic crises and political instability.
- Jasmine Khelil
The Futility of a Lebanon WarIsrael has no military options that could achieve a better result than a negotiated solution or a return to the status quo.
Setting Up an Arab Civil WarThe Biden administration’s plan for the “day after” in Gaza would be disastrous without the promise of Palestinian statehood.
The Laws of HegemonyIn an interview, H. A. Hellyer talks about international justice as the ICC prosecutor seeks to pursue Israeli officials.
