Refugee Hosts at ‘History of Refugees’ Conference

On the 23rd November 2020 Refugee Hosts' Co-ordinator, Aydan Greatrick and Co. I. Prof. Lyndsey Stonebridge took part in the 'History of Refugees' conference hosted by SolidariTee. Diverse motivations shape contemporary responses to refugees, yet the role of history is often overlooked. Aydan Greatrick's and Prof. Lyndsey Stonebridge's talk, 'Refugee Hosting Across Time,' sought to…

There it is: the camp that is yet to be born

There it is: the camp that is yet to be born by Yousif M. Qasmiyeh, Oxford University and Refugee Hosts There it is: the camp that is yet to be born. The camp’s existence will always be on a par with time in the superfluity of tenses. I do not know how the archive can…

Shadows and Echoes in/of Displacement

Shadows and Echoes in/of Displacement: Temporalities, spatialities and materialities of displacement by Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Refugee Hosts In line with our project's Spaces and Places not Faces approach to representation, a key question arising in Refugee Hosts is how we can represent, and conceptualise, the 'field-sites' where we are conducting research. Through diverse media -…

Historical Photos of Hamra, Beirut

Refugee Hosts local researcher, Leonie Harsch, has encountered an archive of photos during her extensive mapping of the Hamra neighbourhood in Beirut. In this piece, Leonie reflects on some of these photos, which form the archive of Mukhtar Michel Bekhazi, as a way of approaching questions of hospitality, refugee-host encounters and 'the local'. In particular,…

Anti-Syrian banners and graffiti in context: Racism, counter-racism and solidarity for refugees in Lebanon

By Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Refugee Hosts PI and UCL In the run up to the Lebanese elections on 6 May 2018, national and international media and human rights organisations have denounced the appearance of anti-Syrian banners across Beirut. Reading “The day will come when we tell the Syrians: gather your things and everything you stole, and…

Refugee Neighbours & Hostipitality

Accounting for the roles of local communities is a key aim of our project, and of the 'Localisation of Aid' agenda more broadly. However, as a result of the mainstream narratives that pervade the literature on conflict-induced displacement, efforts to properly engage with the local have been held back by a failure to fully recognise…

Belgian Refugees in Glasgow: Local Faith Communities, Hosting and the Great War

In this article Kieran Taylor reflects upon his research into Glasgow’s response to Belgian refugees within Scotland during the Great War. The article considers the role played by local government and faith groups in assisting refugees, offering a key historical perspective on some of the themes we are exploring through our Refugee Hosts research project.…

Reflections on Alice’s Alternative Wonderland

How can creative storytelling enable new ways of thinking about and representing displacement? In this piece, Tahmineh Hooshyar Emami reflects on the process of writing her fictitious account, Alice’s Alternative Wonderland, which was originally displayed in three parts on Refugee Hosts. Alice’s Alternative Wonderland is the fictitious account of a child’s experiences on the European refugee trail; here the author…

Summer Newsletter

Our Summer newsletter is now available to view online. This issue highlights our activities over the summer, as well as our recent Faith and Displacement series, which you can read in full on our website. Please follow the link below for important project updates, including blog highlights and information on recent and forthcoming events: Newsletter…

CfP: Hospitality and Hostility Towards Migrants: Global Perspectives

We are pleased to share this call for papers on behalf of Dr. Mette Berg (UCL) and Dr. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh (PI of Refugee Hosts), who are the editors of the new journal, Migration and Society. This new interdisciplinary journal is committed to critical research that situates migration in a wider societal, historical and geographical context, and for…