Damascus: A city in change. The settlement of Iraqi migrants and the urbanisation process
Résumé
Blocks of flats under construction, pressure on the infrastructure and crowded public spaces is today to be found all over Damascus. However, specific areas have undergone more intense developments during the last years, mainly linked to internal and international migration movements. Since the fall of Saddam Hussein regime, the conflict in Iraq is still ongoing and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis have been constrained to leave their country to move in great number towards Syria. The vast majority comes from the main cities in Iraq, and especially from Baghdad, and they settled in the suburbs of the Syrian capital. Neither Syria, nor the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees have opened camps to accommodate the refugees, who are today one of the most important group of urban refugees throughout the world. This presentation strives to analyse the role of migrants in the recent urban development of Damascus underprivileged suburbs, with a focus on the modes of settlement of Iraqi refugees who massively fled their country following the fall of Saddam Hussein regime in 2003. This study is based on two fieldwork experiences (2006-2009) in Damascus. With an in-depth look into the changes of areas of high concentration of Iraqi refugees, this presentation sets out to explore how the everyday life is changing. By looking into the public spaces and how areas previously seen as little villages are now expanding and have become an integrated part of the city the article points to the important linkages between migration and urban development in contemporary Damascus. Iraqis are having a more permanent effect on the Syrian society and the situation is not likely to change in the near future while the Iraqis are being more and more established in the city.