Local Community Experiences of Displacement from Syria: Views from Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey
In this post Refugee Hosts Researcher, Leonie Harsch, reflects on her soundscape of Muslim and Christian spaces in Hamra, Beirut. Harsch includes insights from interviews with members of both religious and secular communities who use these spaces for both humanitarian and religious purposes, and describes how these spaces are conceptualised by local communities. The soundscape…
Throughout our research in Lebanon and Jordan, the Refugee Hosts project has been tracing how, why and with what effect the residents of diverse neighbourhoods have been responding to the arrival and presence of refugees from Syria. In her latest contribution to our Reflections from the Field Series, Refugee Hosts PI Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh draws…
People affected by forced displacement and humanitarian disasters often consider that their psychosocial wellbeing and spiritual needs are as significant as their physical survival. Through supporting mental health and psychosocial wellbeing, religious communities, narratives, beliefs and practices can play an important role in supporting the abilities of individuals and communities to manage trauma and crises.…
Faith plays a crucial role for many displaced people, providing spiritual sanctuary in contexts of overarching insecurity. Whether this comes in the form of organised, local level faith groups - such as those that may gather in mosques or churches - or in the stories and ceremonies of faith-based practices, faith can enable spiritual resilience…
Displaced communities - whether long-time residents of camps and urban areas, or newly arrived refugees - are also often hosts, offering support to fellow refugees through community-led initiatives, or simple acts of everyday hospitality. This 'refugee-refugee humanitarianism' disrupts mainstream humanitarian narratives, which typically frame displaced peoples as passive recipients of aid. In order to challenge…
Refugee Hosts is delighted to announce the launch of a new project, led by our project partner, the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities Refugee Hub, in collaboration with UNHCR, Islamic Relief Worldwide and University College London. The project, made possible by generous funding from the European Commission Department for International Cooperation and Development, is…
On June 28 and 29, Refugee Hosts PI Dr Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh (UCL) and Co-I Prof Alastair Ager (Queen Margaret University) will be presenting findings from their research at the UNHCR-NGO Consultations 2018 in Geneva. Elena and Alastair will be sharing insights from their long-standing research into the roles played by local communities in supporting refugees…
The Localisation of Aid and Southern-led Responses to Displacement: Beyond instrumentalising local actors By Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Refugee Hosts PI and UCL Displacement is primarily a ‘Southern’ phenomenon, with around 90% of all refugees having fled from one country in the global South to another Southern state, through processes of South-South migration. It is equally the…
The conflict in Syria has entered its seventh year. In this time, millions of refugees from Syria have travelled through - or have become stuck in - Turkey, a country that has in turn been shaped by recent political flux. From this position, refugees from Syria - and the NGOs, faith groups and agencies that seek…
Religious tensions between diverse refugee communities in Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon present challenges to those affected by displacement, exposing some to faith-based discrimination. In other instances, (perceived) markers of religious identity expose refugees to discrimination, both from state officials, and members of the host community too. However, as Kat Eghdamian (UCL) argues in this piece (originally…
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