Local Community Experiences of Displacement from Syria: Views from Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey
It is a camp despite the name by Yousif M. Qasmiyeh and Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Refugee Hosts Existence, as it is, happens in the intentions of things. A sign or signs piled on top of one another, barely separated by air and the narrowest of voids: white on blue or blue on white. There is a background…
The Hands are Hers Yousif M. Qasmiyeh - University of Oxford The hands are hers – fractured urns of intimacy and anticipation. They would cut, mend, darn, comb, bathe, clean, feel and above all submit themselves as seals of presence at the UNRWA distribution centres. In this photograph, the face is outside the frame but…
In mourning the refugee, we mourn God’s intention in the absolute Yousif M. Qasmiyeh, University of Oxford How can there be a world apropos a camp? How can there be a camp apropos a world? We repeat the repeated so we can see our features more clearly, the face as it is, the cracks in…
To the Plants is Her Face Yousif M. Qasmiyeh and Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh (Refugee Hosts) The plants which appear in this picture hinge partly on a short wall and partly on a used wooden chest of drawers primarily staged to encircle the entrance to the house and protect it from the curious eyes of passers-by. Or…
The Wall Yousif M. Qasmiyeh (University of Oxford) and Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh (Refugee Hosts, UCL) According to my father, this is the original wall of our old house which was erected in Baddawi camp in the mid-50s. The wall is now an additional barrier between our neighbours and us. A distance that has been multiply plastered…
My Mother’s Heels Yousif M. Qasmiyeh, University of Oxford and Refugee Hosts ‘I live in Baddawi Camp.’ This is what I used to tell foreigners every single time they came to my primary school. At times I used to run after them and repeat these words without waiting for their questions. I have always thought…
This piece continues a series of poetic responses to photographs taken by Refugee Hosts PI Dr Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh during a field-trip to Baddawi refugee camp and the neighbourhood of Jebel al-Baddawi in North Lebanon, and to a range of neighbourhoods in Beirut in March-April 2018. Written by Refugee Hosts Writer-in-Residence Yousif M. Qasmiyeh and PI Dr Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh,…
Refugee Hosts' Writer in Residence, the Palestinian poet and translator Yousif M. Qasmiyeh, is interviewed by The Beacon's Adam Mazarelo. They discuss issues surrounding identity, the politics of space and architecture and narratives as they relate to refugees and refugee camps, and, in particular, their relation to Yousif's home camp of Baddawi in North Lebanon. You…
This piece continues a series of poetic responses to photographs taken by Refugee Hosts PI Dr Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh during a field-trip to Baddawi refugee camp and the neighbourhood of Jebel al-Baddawi in North Lebanon, and to a range of neighbourhoods in Beirut in March-April 2018. Written by Refugee Hosts Writer-in-Residence Yousif M. Qasmiyeh and/or PI Dr Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh,…
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…
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