Description
Apart from Ukraine, the Syrian civil war caused the largest movement of forced migration in recent history: since 2011, more than 6.8 million people have fled the country – with Syria’s neighbouring states hosting most refugees. Yet, despite receiving large amounts of international aid, they – like other refugee-hosting states – increasingly stress their desire for refugee returns. This paper seeks to add to the international politics’ literature on migration diplomacy by theorising cross-border mobility in the Global South, specifically regarding when and how states return refugees. Lebanon is an interesting single case study because it hosts the largest number of refugees per capita globally. The paper theorises state-non-state interactions and how a state in the Global South negotiates with international organisations to facilitate refugee repatriation. In doing so, it reinforces the argument around states using refugee populations as a commodity rather than a population that seeks refuge from war and violence within its territory. Its insights can inform research in other contexts, having seen refugee returns to conflict areas such as Afghanistan, Somalia, or South Sudan; it also allows links to the European Union’s policymaking and its role as a significant donor to refugee hosting states such as Lebanon.
