Shatila camp, covering less than a square mile on the southern borders of Beirut, is one of the Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon that was established in 1949, for merely 3,000 people. Today, the camp occupies the same limited space but…
The eastern Lebanese region of Beka’a, which shares a long border with Syria, hosts around 360,000 registered Syrian refugees. This is both the highest absolute number among regions in Lebanon and also the highest proportion of refugees to local population.…
When the Government of Jordan severely restricted entry through its border with Syria at Rabaa’ al-Sarhan in October 2014, 5,000 internally displaced Syrians were turned away. They established temporary shelters within 200 metres of Jordan, and in doing so they…
M, a Syrian man in his mid-30s, living with two children, his wife and his mother, had not received food aid in over a year. He wondered what it was that made his family ineligible for assistance when neighbours had…
Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan, the second largest camp in the world and temporary home for 80,000 Syrians, was built in 2012, materialising over two weeks as thousands of Syrians fled the city of Dara’a in southwestern Syria. The physical…
Despite increasing international recognition of their specific needs and the challenges that older people face during times of crisis, this age group remains one of the most neglected within the humanitarian and development response, in particular when it comes to…
Through a series of focus group discussions held among refugees across Lebanon and follow-up interviews in selected communities we aimed to capture the state of the four key ‘capitals’ at refugees’ disposal: material, financial, social and human. Although generally these…
Recent international frameworks all reference the importance of strengthening resilience, both at the global level and the individual. Resilience efforts should target not only regions, countries and systems but also individuals and groups, including women, girls and minority groups. Stakeholders…
According to the narratives of many non-governmental organisations (NGOs), the displacement of Syrians is widely held to have disrupted ‘traditional’ family life. Large numbers of households are said now, for the first time, to be headed by women, and these…
Family members play an important role in the decision to leave home, including those who do not intend to travel. Decisions about leaving are usually discussed over several months, with the well-being of all family members considered, yet the extent…