From shelter to home: Studying the requirements of moving to permanent housing for IDPs in the camps of northern Syria. (English)

With the Syrian crisis now in its eleventh year, much of the scholarly focus has been on the lack of prospects for durable solutions for those displaced outside Syria’s territorial borders. Less attention has been given to the plight of those displaced within Syria, i.e. internally displaced persons (IDPs). This study sought to address the paucity of literature on IDPs in Northern Syria, with a specific focus on their housing needs. Questionnaires and focus group discussions were carried out with a sample of IDPs selected from across four camps in North Syria, to gain insights into their views on sustainable housing for IDPs; the implications of building new homes; and their understandings of return to their original communities at the end of the war. Findings indicated that the majority wanted concrete housing to allow them to live a decent life, and that their positive experience of interaction with host communities had led to a preference for housing to be situated close to extended families, but also within wider host-community neighborhoods. They also highlighted their intention to return to their own communities once the crisis had ended.