Simon Turner

We all know that conflict creates displacement. Life becomes untenable in different ways, and people are forced to move; the majority ending up as internally displaced people within the nation-state, while others wind up in refugee camps in neighboring countries, and a very few seek asylum in faraway places. The recent war in Ukraine and the conflict in Syria since 2011 seemingly fit into this classical conception of why and how people are displaced. Sudden violent events forced them to run for their lives. Often, we perceive the flight as a one-way movement in space and time, as people move from hot spaces in search of cool ground. However, the journeys are most often more complicated—even in seemingly straightforward cases like Ukraine and Syria. Decisions to move are made gradually, in steps and at times in leaps, sometimes stopping along the way, at other times being temporarily reversed, as individuals and families continue to engage with the conflict, assessing its potential to diffuse, escalate or morph into something else (; Collyer and de Haas 2012). This collection engages closely with these processes as they unfold in the intimate sphere of family and friends while keeping in mind that the conflict in Syria is still there and it still plays an active role in displaced Syrians’ present lives and plans for futures.