August 2018

This paper was presented at the fourth Lemkin Reunion, held in February 2018 and organized by the Shattuck Center at the School of Public Policy, Central European University in Budapest. The paper is based on research carried out by the authors in 2017 at the Shattuck Center’s Aleppo Project.

As of March 2018, 384,425 Aleppians remain internally displaced inside Syria with 62,970 residing in Idlib governorate. This portion in Idlib represents 16.3 percent of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) from Aleppo. The approximately other 83 percent that was displaced by the conflict relocated inside of Aleppo governorate (70 percent) or Ar-Raqqa (13 percent). [1] This report focuses on the residents of Aleppo that are displaced within rebel-held areas, specifically Idlib governorate. These IDPs face the most difficult barriers to return to their homes in eastern Aleppo, a regime-held area. Their current conditions are insecure with continued violence in the region and little economic security. They live in dire conditions with makeshift and rented houses. They have limited access to healthcare and education facilities for their children. Despite being on Syrian territory only a few kilometers from their home they are not able to return.

As part of its annual Lemkin Reunion, The Shattuck Center on Conflict, Negotiation and Recovery at CEU’s School of Public Policy hosted in Budapest the 4th Lemkin Reunion. The topic was on displaced Syrians and the obstacles to return, with a panel discussion with:

Basel Aljunaidy, Director of Orient Policy Center, Gaziantep

Senay Ozden, Cultural Anthropologist, Hamisch Syrian Cultural House, Istanbul

Ugur Ümit Üngör, Associate Professor of History at Utrecht University and the Institute of War and Genocide Studies, Amsterdam

Radwan Ziadeh, Senior Analyst at the Arab Center, Washington DC

Moderated by Martin Kahanec, Acting Dean of the CEU School of Public Policy and the Shattuck Center

We will be publishing papers from the Lemkin Reunion that can be found on the in the Papers section of the website here. This video features interviews with Senay Ozden and Basel Aljunaidy.

Learn more: ccnr.ceu.edu