Events

Conflict and Fragility

Syria after civil war #1: The regional refugee problem
13 Mar 2019 12:00 - 14:00
Bron: Mustafa Khayat
Inleiding

This was the first in our series of Lunch discussions on Syria after Civil War. The full photostream of this event can be viewed here. The next discussions will be held at Tuesday 26 March (The geopolitics of Syria’s new political order) and Monday 13 May (Militancy and extremism in Syria and beyond).

Syrian war has left in its wake over 5 million refugees and likely as many internally displaced people. This is certainly one of the greatest demographic catastrophes of the past decades, for Syria and for the already volatile region.

The displaced population is now reaching around half of all Syrian citizen. With Assad's de facto victory in Syria, the future of them and the countries that have hosted them so far will depend on the solutions that need to be found.

Clingendael's Ana Uzelac and Monika Sie during the debate on Syria
Ana Uzelac (l.) and Monika Sie (r.) during the lunch debate on Syria after civil war

This tragedy has reverberated also in Europe, with the 2015 Mediterranean crisis exposing the weaknesses of the EU asylum policies and putting the European solidarity under pressure. The aid response to this crisis has been similarly large: almost 10 billion USD has already been spent in direct aid to the hosting countries, and tens more made available in the form on concessional loans and development assistance aimed at mitigating the economic, social and political tensions.

This first lunch discussion focused on the main political and economic challenges of all of those durable solutions.

Clingendael lunch debate Syria on civil war participants
Participants during the debate on Syria in Clingendael's main conference room

Speakers

  • Ana Uzelac (Senior Research Fellow, the Clingendael Institute)

Moderator: Monika Sie Dhian Ho (General Director, the Clingendael Institute)
 
Programme

  • 11:30: Welcome and registration
  • 12:00-12:30: Introduction by Ana Uzelac
  • 12:30-14.00: Discussion led by Monika Sie Dhian Ho

Please be advised that these lunch discussions are held under the Chatham House Rule.