The book places the current displacement of nearly 50% of Syria’s population within the context of the widespread migrations that have indelibly marked the region throughout the last century and a half. Syria itself has harboured millions from its neighbouring lands, and Syrian society has been shaped by these diasporas.

Professor 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 neighbouring 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.

Syria: The Making and Unmaking of a Refuge State is published by Hurst & Co.