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 Diwan
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.
Lebanon’s New Breed of Drug BaronsIn an interview, Mohanad Hage Ali talks about the Captagon trade’s impact on state institutions.
Syria’s Leaders Show Their IntentionsThe country recently approved a constitutional declaration that plants unusual seeds worth watching.
Fear and Loathing in EuropeIn an interview, Yasmine Zarhloule discusses irregular migration to Europe and the shortcomings of a securitization policy.
- Rayyan Al-Shawaf
A Deal in DamascusSyria’s Kurds and the new administration of Ahmad al-Sharaa have just signed an agreement, but what motivated it?
- Wladimir van Wilgenburg
