Syria: The Making and Unmaking of a Refuge State

by Dawn Chatty

The dispossession and forced migration of nearly 50 per cent of Syria's population has produced the greatest refugee crisis since World War II. This new book places the current displacement within the context of the widespread migrations that have indelibly marked the region throughout the last 150 years. Syria itself has harbored millions from its neighboring lands, and Syrian society has been shaped by these diasporas. Dawn Chatty explores how modern Syria came to be a refuge state, focusing first on the major forced migrations into Syria of Circassians, Armenians, Kurds, Palestinians, and Iraqis. Drawing heavily on individual narratives and stories of integration, adaptation, and compromise, she shows that a local cosmopolitanism came to be seen as intrinsic to Syrian society. She examines the current outflow of people from Syria to neighboring states as individuals and families seek survival with dignity, arguing that though the future remains uncertain, the resilience and
strength of Syrian society both displaced internally within Syria and externally across borders bodes well for successful return and reintegration. If there is any hope to be found in the Syrian civil war, it is in this history.

Genres: Nonfiction

224 pages, Hardcover

Published February 1, 2018

Reviews

[Myriam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every Syrian and Middle Easterner has to read this book….. it beautifully traces how the multi-ethnic and multi-cultural mosaic of Syria came to be. Syria has a long history of accepting refugees from all over the region and parts of the Caucasus/ balkans. It details different ways these migrants and refugees have integrated in different ways of Syrian society. I am so proud to be Syrian.