Flight and Displacement [Current Wars and Perspectives on Peace]

Returns of Displaced People and Syria’s Transition

Speaker: Prof. Dr. Şahin-Mencütek
Language: English
Format: Lecture

Abstract

Since the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024, the return of Syrian refugees has increasingly featured on the agendas of neighbouring countries and European host states. Syria’s transitional authorities, meanwhile, have made the return of internally displaced people and support for reconstruction by Syrians abroad national priorities.

More than three million displaced Syrians have returned to their areas of origin. Drawing on long-term research on Syrian displacement and return, this lecture will examine the dynamics of return to and within Syria, as well as the perspectives and experiences of diverse actors, including the current government, neighbouring Türkiye and Lebanon, major European host countries, Syrian refugees, returnees and stayees.

It will also explore how returns intersect with Syria’s changing political, security and economic landscape, reconstruction processes, and the implications for sustainable return, transnational engagements and circular mobility.

Short Bio

Dr. Şahin-Mencütek is Professor of Global Migration and Politics at Osnabrück University. Her research focuses on migration and refugee governance, return migration, diaspora politics, and migration policy in the Middle East.

She holds a PhD in Politics and International Relations from the University of Southern California and has published extensively on refugee governance and migration. Her current research includes the ERC-funded project MULTI-RES, which examines how responsibility for displacement is negotiated across different levels of governance.