Local Community Experiences of Displacement from Syria: Views from Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey
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…
Efforts to bring local faith actors (LFAs) into the wider humanitarian apparatus have been a key aim of the localisation of aid agenda. In this piece, Olivia Wilkinson (Director of Research of Refugee Hosts' research partner, the Joint Learning Initiative on Local Faith Communities) argues that there is a need to ensure that such engagements provide space…
Religion and the Promotion of Social Justice for Refugees The Refugee Hosts team is honoured to have been awarded a Bridging Voices grant by the British Council-USA (generously funded by The Henry Luce Foundation) in collaboration with four US-based colleagues affiliated with the Program on Refugees, Forced Displacement, and Humanitarian Responses at Yale University. Led by…
We need more nuanced evidence to help policymakers and practitioners better understand the roles that faith-based actors already play, and have the potential to play, in supporting refugees and forced migrants. Summarising existing evidence and key remaining questions presented in a policy note issued by our project partner the Joint Learning Initiative on Faith &…
In this piece, Sadia Kidwai of Islamic Relief argues that greater engagement with local faith communities by international humanitarian organisations will allow for more sustainable responses to global forced migration to be identified and implimented. This is an area which is being examined by the JLI Hub on Refugees and Forced Migration, of which Sadia is a Co-Chair,…
Based on her research in Italy, in this piece Susanna Trotta argues that Italian FBOs' responses to the needs of peoples displaced around the Mediterranean are helping to counteract troubling trends in refugee status recognition, whilst also offering a model of 'replicability' capable of challenging the growing securitisation of refugee protection in the Global North. In…
Major international agencies including the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) have moved towards partnering with faith-based actors to support displaced persons. Despite this, concerns – and suspicions – remain about the nature and impact of faith-based responses to displacement, often stemming from negative assumptions about the relationship between religion and gender. These assumptions…
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