Social scientist with a PhD in Development Studies investigating the political economy of forced labour displacement in the context of the context of Syrian agricultural refugee-labourers in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.
I have conducted research and consultancies with local organisations in Lebanon, as well as with international NGOs, charities and educational institutions. In additional to contributing to academic research and writing on the Syrian refugee situation, I was also actively involved in the Syrian humanitarian response during its early phases. Supervisors: Dr. Mayssoun Sukarieh , Prof. Michael Kerr , and Dr Rafael Ziadeh Address: London, UK
In comparison with other regional host countries Lebanon's response to the Syrian refugee crisis ... more In comparison with other regional host countries Lebanon's response to the Syrian refugee crisis is characterized by a remarkable degree of institutional ambiguity. Government policy has centered on the prohibition of formal refugee camps and adopted regulations with regard to registration, residence, and work which drive refugees into illegality. This is partly the result of the chaotic and overwhelming nature of any refugee crisis, which is only reinforced by the Lebanese government's limited resources and capacities and the country's dysfunctional political system. However, institutional ambiguity in the context of the Lebanese response to the Syrian refugee crisis is not merely contingent. Departing from agnotology theory, this article demonstrates that there is also a strategic component to the institutional ambiguity that now determines the life of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. On the basis of fieldwork among Syrian refugee communities, elaborate policy analysis, and an extensive literature review the article reveals the political utility of maintaining uncertainty and precariousness. These insights have profound implications for the analysis of refugee politics and the formulation of policy recommendations.
This contribution aims to deconstruct state sovereignty in Lebanon through the Syrian refugee cri... more This contribution aims to deconstruct state sovereignty in Lebanon through the Syrian refugee crisis. While mainstream approaches view sovereignty in Lebanon as weak and contextually limited, I argue that the Syrian refugee was resourceful for the reproduction of statist images through everyday practices of exclusionary and arbitrary power. I reveal how the ambiguities of the state’s strategies succeed in shifting attention on pre-existing gaps, towards the refugee. I also evaluate the implications of the ‘no-policy policy’ at both central and local levels. The gaps caused by the central authorities’ passive actions gave municipalities an increasing role in the management of the crisis. To show this, I take Burj Hammoud and Bar Elias municipalities as case study examples. I evaluate the extent to which sovereign images were successfully reiterated at the local level, through coercive and illegal practices among others. The analysis of the challenges on the ground, which are exacerbated by the state’s official ‘no-policy’, unveils, however, the unsustainability of the current management. I conclude that the need to adopt a more constructive approach to the refugee problem would also allow for a renegotiation of relations within the state, and hence, the reification of a more inclusive yet ‘de-centralised sovereignty’.
In comparison with other regional host countries Lebanon's response to the Syrian refugee crisis ... more In comparison with other regional host countries Lebanon's response to the Syrian refugee crisis is characterized by a remarkable degree of institutional ambiguity. Government policy has centered on the prohibition of formal refugee camps and adopted regulations with regard to registration, residence, and work which drive refugees into illegality. This is partly the result of the chaotic and overwhelming nature of any refugee crisis, which is only reinforced by the Lebanese government's limited resources and capacities and the country's dysfunctional political system. However, institutional ambiguity in the context of the Lebanese response to the Syrian refugee crisis is not merely contingent. Departing from agnotology theory, this article demonstrates that there is also a strategic component to the institutional ambiguity that now determines the life of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. On the basis of fieldwork among Syrian refugee communities, elaborate policy analysis, and an extensive literature review the article reveals the political utility of maintaining uncertainty and precariousness. These insights have profound implications for the analysis of refugee politics and the formulation of policy recommendations.
This contribution aims to deconstruct state sovereignty in Lebanon through the Syrian refugee cri... more This contribution aims to deconstruct state sovereignty in Lebanon through the Syrian refugee crisis. While mainstream approaches view sovereignty in Lebanon as weak and contextually limited, I argue that the Syrian refugee was resourceful for the reproduction of statist images through everyday practices of exclusionary and arbitrary power. I reveal how the ambiguities of the state’s strategies succeed in shifting attention on pre-existing gaps, towards the refugee. I also evaluate the implications of the ‘no-policy policy’ at both central and local levels. The gaps caused by the central authorities’ passive actions gave municipalities an increasing role in the management of the crisis. To show this, I take Burj Hammoud and Bar Elias municipalities as case study examples. I evaluate the extent to which sovereign images were successfully reiterated at the local level, through coercive and illegal practices among others. The analysis of the challenges on the ground, which are exacerbated by the state’s official ‘no-policy’, unveils, however, the unsustainability of the current management. I conclude that the need to adopt a more constructive approach to the refugee problem would also allow for a renegotiation of relations within the state, and hence, the reification of a more inclusive yet ‘de-centralised sovereignty’.
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