What may appear to be generalised or indiscriminate violence in Syria is in reality often specifically targeting particular populations on the basis of an imputed political opinion, that is, their perceived support for one of the sides in the conflict.…
The scale of displacement from the Syrian crisis is compounded by its geographic spread and its prolonged nature. Syrians have been forced from their homes to neighbouring Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey, while others have fled to Egypt, Libya and…
More than 40% of Jordan’s current population originates from other countries, including two million Palestinians, up to 1.3 million Syrians and 29,000 Iraqis. In order to protect its national identity in these circumstances, and because of the complicated situation in…
One example of how the protection response has failed to adequately involve beneficiaries is the focus of humanitarian actors on child marriage amongst the displaced Syrian population. Evidence suggests the practice of child marriage has not increased as a result…
“I failed but still I want to go abroad. I need to get [to] my destination because here in Afghanistan there is no work or education.” (Amini, aged 17, Nangarhar) Many Afghan minors who previously left Afghanistan for the West…
It is still unclear at the time of writing whether there will be an international military presence after 2014, and the diplomatic atmosphere has long been marked by uncertainty and strained relations between the government and troop-contributing nations. These are,…
Thousands of families from Helmand, Kandahar, Uruzgan and a number of other provinces in southern Afghanistan have reportedly recently returned to their home districts from the cities where they had sought refuge for months and even years. However, the conditions…
A group of people in eastern Afghanistan – known to the authorities and others as Bangriwala or Vangawala in this area – have reported recently been forcibly relocated because of their lack of identity documents. These people lead a nomadic…
On 25 November 2013, the Government of Afghanistan approved a National IDP Policy[1] which had been nearly two years in the making. In the context of some 500,000 Afghans internally displaced as a result of conflict, with perhaps a further…
Afghan refugees long constituted the world’s largest refugee population and one of the most protracted situations in the world. They have also been the subject of the largest repatriation ever undertaken – which is still ongoing. Since 2002 more than…