The Impact of Forced Migration in the Middle East: Syrian and Palestinian Refugees

Abstract

Forced migration in the Middle East dates back to the mid-20th century. This paper takes up the experiences of Palestinian and Syrian refugees and examines the impact of forced migration on the host countries and the region at large. It explicates the short and longterm economic, cultural and political outcomes of these two refugee flows and concludes that forced migration- although extremely disruptive to all involved initially- has a net benefit on the host countries in the long-run. It also explores the reasons behind the lack of regional coping mechanisms, including regional migration management mechanisms, and proposes that the terms such as “crisis” and “guests” should be avoided when discussing protracted situations because refugees are not able to repatriate to their countries of origin whenever they wish, and may instead become permanent residents of the host country because of the political and economic problems in the home countries

Keywords

• Migration, Middle East, Refugees, Politics, Culture.

References

1. Rosemary Sayigh, “A House is Not a Home: Permanent Impermanence of Habitat for Palestinian Expellees in Lebanon”, Holy Land Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1 (2005), pp. 17–39.
2. UNHCR Report, “Forced Displacement Worldwide at its Highest in Decades”, at http://www.unhcr.org/afr/news/stories/2017/6/5941561f4/forced-displacement- worldwide-its-highest-decades.html (last visited 28 January 2018).
3. Stephan Szabo, “Europe’s Identity Crisis”, The Washington Post, 12 November 2015.
4. Ximena Vanessa Del Carpio and Mathis Christoph, “The Impact of Syrian Refugees on the Turkish Labor Market, at http://www.gsdrc.org/document-library/the-impact-of- syrian-refugees-on-the-turkish-labour-market/ (last visited 28 January 2018).
5. ILO Report, “Regional Dialogue on Labor Market Impact of the Syrian Refugee Crisis in Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Iraq and Egypt: Summary Report and conclusions”, at http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---arabstates/---ro-beirut/documents/ publication/wcms_408999.pdf (last visited 28 January 2018).
6. Lorenza Errighi and Jörn Griesse, “The Syrian Refugee Crisis: Labor Market implications in Jordan and Lebanon”, at https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/file_ import/dp029_en_2.pdf (last visited 28 January 2018).
7. ILO Report, “Regional Dialogue on Labor Market Impact”.
8. Phillippe Fargues, “Work, Refuge, Transit: An Emerging Pattern of Irregular Immigration South and East of the Mediterranean”, The International Migration Review, Vol.43, No. 3 (2009), pp. 544–77.

9. Ari Ben Goldberg, “US Senate Dramatically Scales down Definition of Palestinian Refugees” The Times of Israel, 25 May 2012.
10. Rosemary Sayigh, “A House is not a Home: Permanent Impermanence of Habitat for Palestinian Expellees in Lebanon”, Holy Land Studies, Vol. 4, No. 1 (2005), pp. 17–39.
11. Deborah Sontag, “Quest for Middle East Peace: How and Why It Failed”, Journal of Palestine Studies, Vol. 31, No.1 (2001) pp. 75–85.
12. ILO Report, “Regional Dialogue on Labor Market Impact”.
13. Lorenza Errighi and Jörn Griesse, “The Syrian Refugee Crisis: Labor Market Implications in Jordan and Lebanon”, at https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/info/files/file_ import/dp029_en_2.pdf (last visited 28 January 2018). 15 Ibid. 16 Ibid.
14. Şenay Özden, «Syrian Refugees in Turkey”, at http://cadmus.eui.eu/handle/1814/29455 (last visited 28 January 2018).
15. William Armstrong, “Syrian Kurds Have Risen `Out of Nowhere` since 2011”, Hürriyet Daily News, 24 October 2015
16. Arturo Roizblatt and Daniel Pilowsky, “Forced Migration and Resettlement: Its Impact on Families and Individuals”, Contemporary Family Therapy, Vol. 18, No. 4 (1996), pp. 513- 521.
17. Niklas Magnusson, “Sweden Anti-Immigration Party Surges in Poll Amid Refugee Crisis”, at http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-12-01/sweden-anti- immigration-party-surges-in-poll-amid-refugee-crisis (last visited 28 January 2018).
18. Stephan Szabo, “Europe’s Identity Crisis”, The Washington Post, 12 November 2015.
19. Christophe Bertossi and Ashley Milkop, “The Regulation of Migration: A Global Challenge”, Politique étrangère, Vol. 73 (2008), p. 189.
20. Sarah Kenyon Lischer, “Security and Displacement in Iraq: Responding to the Forced Migration Crisis”, International Security, Vol. 33, No. 2 (2008), pp. 95–119. 24 Ibid.
21. Massimiliano Calì and Samia Sekkarie, “Much ado about nothing? The Economic Impact of Refugee Invasions”, 16 September 2015 at https://www.brookings.edu/blog/ future-development/2015/09/16/much-ado-about-nothing-the-economic-impact-of- refugee-invasions/ (last visited 28 January 2018).
22. Sulome Anderson, “The Smugglers Are Vampires”, Foreign Policy, at https://foreignpolicy. com/2015/10/05/the-smugglers-are-vampires-lebanon-palestinian-refugees-ain-al- hilweh/ (last visited 28 January 2018).
23. Sylvain Perdigon, “For us it is otherwise: Three Sketches on Making Poverty Sensible in the Palestinian Refugee Camps of Lebanon”, Current Anthropology, Vol. 56, no. 11 (2015), pp. 88–96.
24. Şebnem Köşer Akçapar, “Conversion as a Migration Strategy in a Transit Country: Iranian Shiites Becoming Christians in Turkey”, The International Migration Review, Vol. 40, No. 4 (2006), pp. 817–853.
25. Roland Flamini, “Forced Exodus: Christians in the Middle East”, World Affairs, Vol. 176, No. 4 (2013), pp. 65–71.
26. Lizzie Dearden, “Muslim Refugees are Converting to Christianity in Germany”, The Independent, 9 December 2016.
27. U.S. Department of State, “Fact Sheet: Distinctions Between Human Smuggling and Human Trafficking 2006”, U.S. Department of State, at https://www.state.gov/m/ds/ investigat/hstcenter/90434.htm (last visited 28 January 2018).
28. Fiona B. Adamson, “Crossing Borders: International Migration and National Security”, International Security, Vol. 31, No.1 (2006), pp. 165- 199.
29. “Calamity”, at http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/calamity (last visited 28 January 2018).