Refugees, Residents, and Rentierism: A Critical Assessment of Responses to the Syrian Refugee Crisis

Tsourapas, G. (2021) Refugees, Residents, and Rentierism: A Critical Assessment of Responses to the Syrian Refugee Crisis. Bustan, 12(1), pp. 1-15. (doi: 10.5325/bustan.12.1.0001)[Book Review]

Abstract

How have international agreements on refugees affected the politics of host states of first asylum in the Middle East? The works reviewed here examine the experiences of Lebanon and Jordan, the two countries with the highest refugee- to-citizen ratio in the world, in the context of the Syrian refugee crisis. Five years since the signing of the Jordan Compact and the Lebanon Crisis Response Plan, which have shaped refugee protection in the two countries, the time is ripe for a re-evaluation of the decision to blur the lines between humanitarian and developmental aid. Focusing on the shifting relationship between Syrian refugees and citizens, the review highlights the range of local tensions accentuated by the refugee compact system. It employs the concept of refugee rent—namely, external income linked to the treatment of forcibly displaced population groups—in order to critically assess the repercussions of refugee commodification for the Middle East.

• Item Type: Book Reviews
• Additional Information: Reviewed Works: The Syrian Refugee Crisis in Lebanon: The Double Tragedy of Refugees and Impacted Host Communities; by Robert G. Rabil, Juline Beaujouan, Amjed Rasheed, Anne Marie Baylouny; Syrian Crisis, Syrian Refugees: Voices from Jordan and Lebanon; by Juline Beaujouan, Amjed Rasheed; When Blame Backfires: Syrian Refugees and Citizen Grievances in Jordan and Lebanon; by Anne Marie Baylouny.
• Status: Published
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Tsourapas, Professor Gerasimos
• Authors: Tsourapas, G.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Politics
• Journal Name: Bustan
• Publisher: Penn State University Press
• ISSN: 1878-5301
• ISSN (Online): 1878-5328