MER Article Umm 'Abdallah There is a name whispered in opposition circles in Syria -- an insurance policy against what after three years of conflict seems inevitable. If you are injured very badly, there are two imperatives: Get to the Jordanian border. Then, get to Umm ‘Abdallah. “She’s the one,” says Muhammad ‘Ali Shambou Elizabeth Dickinson • 3 min read
MER Article Shadow Aid to Syrian Refugees A carpenter all his life, ‘Ala’ never imagined himself wanting for something like a chair or a bed. But today his blue plastic seat is a luxury. After fleeing war in Syria, ‘Ala’ and his family were homeless in Jordan for roughly 18 months. But since January, the father of three has lived with a doz Elizabeth Dickinson • 15 min read
MER Article Bread Is Life ‘Abd al-Qadir is tall, handsome and unassumingly stylish. With his well-cropped beard, Bob Marley T-shirt and Nike kicks, the young man would not look out of place on the gentrified streets of Brooklyn, the art scene of Belleville or the bustling beaches of his dream destination, Rio de Janeiro. Ins Jose Ciro Martinez • 17 min read
Current Analysis Educational Aftershocks for Syrian Refugees in Lebanon More than 50 percent of Syrian refugees living in Lebanon [https://data.unhcr.org/syrianrefugees/country.php?id=122] are 17 or younger. Back home the great majority of them were in school. But youth who try to continue their education in Lebanon face social, economic and bureaucratic obstacles. The Sarah Parkinson • 5 min read
Current Analysis Not Much Better Than Bush President Barack Obama got it right [http://www.cnn.com/2014/06/19/politics/obama-iraq-transcript/index.html] when he declared: "There's no military solution inside of Iraq, certainly not one that is led by the United States." But his Iraq track record doesn’t mark much of an improvement over the m Amanda Ufheil-Somers • 2 min read
Current Analysis Nowhere to Turn for Mosul's Refugees In 2006, 30,000 Iraqis arrived in Syria every month, seeking and receiving safe haven from US occupation and sectarian warfare [http://www.irinnews.org/report/79659/syria-unhcr-cash-for-iraqi-refugees-but-many-vow-never-to-return] as kidnappings, death threats, and bombings by air and land engulfed Sophia Hoffmann • 4 min read
Current Analysis Refugee Need and Resilience in Zaatari Not surprisingly, a visit to the Zaatari camp for Syrian refugees in northern Jordan is mainly a depressing experience. Yet there are elements of inspiration here as well. Curtis Ryan • 4 min read
Current Analysis A Guide for the Perplexed You have reached the village of Kafr Bir‘im. Enjoy the clean air of the Upper Galilee. Listen to the mountain silence. Observe the elegance of the stone construction in front of you; it is left standing after the 1948 occupation of the village and its consequent destruction. And realize as well that Samera Esmeir • 18 min read
Current Analysis Refugee 101 Crossing the border at Masna‘, al-‘Abboudiyya or Mashari‘ al-Qa‘a, Syrian refugees entering Lebanon face an immediate choice: Stay in the tented settlements in the north and the Bekaa Valley or make their way to coastal cities such as Beirut and Sidon. Their experiences will vary greatly depending o Sarah Parkinson • 8 min read
MER Article The Rerouted Trafficking in Eritrean Refugees When Sheikh Muhammad ‘Ali Hasan ‘Awad learned that nine kidnapped “Africans” -- eight Eritreans and one Ethiopian -- were being beaten, raped and starved in a compound in Sheikh Zuwayd, a Sinai village near the Israeli border, he wasted little time. Firing AK-47s in the air, the sheikh and his Bedou Dan Connell • 13 min read
Current Analysis Breaking Point One of the many plot lines lost in the summertime discussions of a US strike on Syria is the pace of refugee movement out of the country. As it stands, the refugee crisis is overwhelming and likely to stay that way. Another external military intervention would further accelerate the mass flight and Omar S. Dahi • 8 min read
Current Analysis The Syrian Crisis in Jordan An hour and a quarter north of Amman the rural highway rolls through the remote desert hamlet of Zaatari without slowing. The town’s lone intersection is too sleepy to need a stop sign. Matthew Hall • 23 min read
