Engendering refugees’ livelihood strategies: the case of the Iraqi diaspora in Damascus By Giorgio Heinrich neidhardt Fondazione Terre des Hommes Italia Onlus Abstract This study looks at the gender dimension in Iraqis’ livelihood strategies in Syria in the period immediately before the present uprising and repression. It suggests that the lack of resources in Syria has meant that Iraqis have ‘activated’ resources elsewhere, outside Syria and outside the environment of institutional humanitarian assistance, and examines the implications of these transnational practices for Iraqi families and their networks. In the first part of this paper I analyse the characteristics of the host country, starting from the urban milieu in which the refugee communities are situated. I note the relative unimportance of ethnic and sectarian affiliation within the Iraqi diaspora in Syria, and focus on the more significant social and economic constraints on recent refugees following the enforcement by the Syrian government of stricter regulations on entry and stay, and the subsequent separation of families between Iraq and Syria. In the second part I examine the dependence of Iraqi refugees in Syria on family networks to cope with the restrictive measures of the host country on the one hand, and with the conflict in Iraq on the other, in order to comprehend how gender in the Iraqi diaspora in Syria constitutes a determining element with respect to livelihood strategies. Introduction Since 2003 debate has grown among both prac- understood as the circulation of people, repre- titioners and academics on urban displacement sentations, ideas, goods and services across and and gender in the Iraqi diaspora. On the one within national boundaries (Dahinden 2010) – hand, the urban character of displacement – and may enhance social resilience and capabilities, the inherent higher mobility of the displaced – as it could represent an opportunity to diversify were a subject of study for their fluid and elusive resources while involving women and leading to nature, which posed important challenges to the ‘new gender roles’ (loughry 2008). provision of humanitarian assistance (Chatelard To access these resources, refugees often rely 2010). On the other hand, the gender dimension on family members and friends in the areas of of displacement has been predominantly exam- origin and destination through a complex series ined in relation to the vulnerabilities of Iraqi refu- of interpersonal relationships that constitutes a gees, notably Iraqi women and girls. transnational network. Family ties are commonly If read through a positive lens, the relation the primary link between these constellations of between ‘mobility’ and ‘gender’ – as opposed individuals (Massey 1988). Transnational family to ‘urban displacement’ and ‘vulnerabilities’ – networks are among the most frequent means may be conducive to the constitution of liveli- among displaced people to mobilise financial hood strategies. In other words, mobility – to be resources, such as remittances, as well as the DIVERSITIES Vol. 15, No. 1, 2013 ISSN 2079-6595, www.unesco.org/shs/diversities/vol15/issue1/art8 © UNESCO DIVERSITIES Vol. 15, No. 1, 2013 • ISSN 2079-6595 G. H. Neidhardt social capital and the information used to enable registered by the UnHCr in Syria are Sunnis. On trade and relocation between the country of asy- the other hand, demographic data collected by lum, the homeland, and third destinations. Iraqi UnHCr show that in Syria females constitute half women and men may have different roles in of the refugee population, with female-headed accessing these networks, a difference that chal- households making up 30% of the cases (UnHCr lenges institutional humanitarian assistance and 2008). Field research conducted in Syria and in policies as well as customary patriarchal hierar- Iraq suggests that ethno-sectarian divisions and chies and structures. family structures that shaped life in the coun- There is growing evidence that transnational try of origin have undergone changes in the livelihood strategies through family networks – diasporic context. Despite patriarchal opposi- including remittance sending as well as knowl- tion, women seem to play a determining role in edge-sharing – may be equally relevant in situa- anchoring family members in the recent diaspora tions of forced displacement as they are in situ- and provide livelihoods through family networks. ations of economic migration (Horst 2004). It is Despite being one of the largest refugee pro- a distinctive feature of Iraqi forced migration in ducing countries, until recently Syria used to host Syria that economic constraints in the country of the majority of displaced Iraqis in the region. asylum mean that remittances are sent from the While Syria is experiencing its own crisis, the country of origin, opposite to the usual trend of Iraqi displacement situation is far from being sending remittances from the country of asylum solved. By relying on the participant observa- to the country of origin (Doraï 2007). tion research method, this paper seeks to pro- Following an overview of livelihood terminol- vide new ways of understanding the conditions ogy and some relevant definitions, I intend to of the Iraqi displacement and possible solutions examine how gender has influenced transna- to it. This research was, however, undertaken in tional livelihood strategies among Iraqis who took the period before the current instability in Syria. refuge in Syria, whether the lack of resources in Any short or long-term solution to the Iraqi refu- Syria has led to the need to ‘activate’ resources gee situation needs to be read in light of other elsewhere outside Syria and outside the environ- displacement situations in the region, which now ment of the regime of humanitarian assistance, includes thousands of displaced Syrians. and how gender might be important in such an attempt to retrieve available resources. A note on terminology The Iraqi diaspora in Syria, especially since the livelihoods are defined by Chambers and Con- fall of Ba’thist regime, has been characterised by way (1992) as comprising ‘capabilities, assets – a high level of freedom of choice in the place of including both material and social resources – and settlement, with three out of four refugees living activities required for a means of living.’ This def- amongst the civilian population in the country of inition is widely accepted in the discipline of eco- asylum. In 2005 the United nations High Com- nomics and development studies. For the scope missioner for refugees (UnHCr) calculated that of this paper, however, Jacobsen’s definition of 10.6 million Iraqis were living amongst the local livelihoods in situations of displacement may population, compared to the 3.6 million Iraqis provide a better framework (Jacobsen 2002). As living in refugee camps or centres (UnHCr 2005). she argues, the pursuit of livelihoods in the con- Despite stricter entry measures adopted by the text of forced displacement encompasses ‘how Syrian government in 2007, the absence of camps people access and mobilize resources enabling implies a relative increase in decision-making for [refugees] to increase their economic security, refugees, which in turn allows us to reflect on thereby reducing the vulnerability created and the variables which determine their movements. exacerbated by conflict.’ While displacement can Gender is an important variable alongside ethnic result in new forms of gender and age vulnerabil- and sectarian affiliation (Al-Ali 2007). In contrast ity, it can also lead to the creation of new strate- to the situation before 2003, most Iraqi refugees gies to access and mobilise these resources, with 96 Engendering refugees’ livelihood strategies DIVERSITIES Vol. 15, No. 1, 2013 • ISSN 2079-6595 new forms of social organisation and networks A note on methodology forming as a result of having to cope with dif- This study is the result of field research con- ferent hardships related to forced displacement. ducted from 2007 to 2011 thanks to the sup- Within this context, refugee men and women port of the UnHCr, the International Organiza- may use different means to access resources and tion for Migration, and Intersos, an international pursue livelihood activities, actively navigating non-governmental organisation. The analysis the opportunities and constraints of their social – ethnographic in nature – is based on 45 semi- worlds. To qualify for assistance from humani- structured interviews, including 29 with refugees tarian organisations, however, women might be and asylum-seekers, 12 refugee returnees, and pushed to adopt identities such as ‘single moth- three displaced Iraqis who were not registered ers’ or ‘women at risk’. In reality, women’s sta- with UnHCr. The interviews were conducted in tuses might be more complex, as their spouses Damascus at the UnHCr registration centre in might be residing in another location with the Duma as well as in the refugees’ houses. Inter- knowledge of the woman (Gale 2006). A single views with returnees were conducted in Baghdad woman with children in Damascus who fits in the and Basrah, mainly at the nGO’s premises. Three vulnerable category might have a husband in Iraq follow-up interviews were also conducted via who supports the family via remittances. In each phone. In addition to semi-formal interviews, case the woman would be termed ‘vulnerable’, I used participant observation as a research tool but her situation would clearly vary, depend- throughout my engagement with the Iraqi refu- ing on the resources available to her, including gee community over several years. Additional those from diasporic family members. Old hier- quantitative data were extracted from the two archies of authority may also be challenged in surveys conducted by Ipsos in 2007 and the 2005 the refugee context with significant implications assessment by the UnHCr–United nations Chil- for men’s roles as husbands, fathers, protectors dren’s Fund (UnICEF) World Food Program, as and breadwinners, along with their loss of for- well as various UnHCr polls conducted at the mal power networks. Gale’s approach may call border and in Baghdad in 2010.