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Sara Sadek is an affiliated researcher and coordinator at the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS) at the American University in Cairo. She obtained an MA in Refugee Studies from the University of East London. Since 2005, she has worked on various research projects on Iraqi and Sudanese communities in Egypt, contributing to a report on Iraqis in Egypt and recently producing a paper on challenges of integration for Iraqis in Arab states for the Henry L. Stimson Center’s forthcoming volume Transnational Challenges.
Monday Briefing: Manbij Offensive, Yemen Talks, Turkey-Israel, Tunisia Unity Government
In this week’s Monday Briefing, MEI experts Robert S. Ford, Charles Schmitz, Gonul Tol, and Mabrouka M’Barek provide analysis on recent events including Manbij offensive, Yemen talks, Israel-Turkey rapprochement, and Tunisia national unity government.
Rohingya Refugees in Aceh, Indonesia: Hostile Hospitality
This essay investigates what became of the many hundreds of Rohingya who were rescued from their rickety boats in the Andaman Sea in May 2015 and brought to shore in Aceh, Indonesia. It discusses the spontaneous acts of hospitality that initially greeted their arrival, the subsequent escapes by some from the camps in which they were accommodated, and the struggle by local officials and NGOs to find mid-term solutions for their care.
Presidential Race Shifts Discourse on Israel-Palestine
The 2016 presidential primaries have upended a wide variety of assumptions about the rules of American politics, and what the traffic will bear. One of these areas is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Protracted Refugee Displacement in the Middle East: Making Home in Limbo?
This essay examines a key policy assumption behind the concept Protracted Refugee Situations—the notion that the refugee predicament, “limbo,” can only be resolved through going Home as defined within a nation-state framework. The authors’ proposal—that refugees can make home without necessarily going home—offers an alternative, refugee-centered perspective of home as a “constellation” of practices, strategies, and ideas.
The battle for Fallujah, Thursday's OPEC meeting, and Hariri's loss in Tripoli
In this week’s briefing, MEI experts Charles Lister, Herman Franssen, and Paul Salem provide analysis on recent and upcoming events including the battle for Fallujah, Thursday’s OPEC meeting, and Saad Hariri’s defeat in Tripoli, Lebanon.
Responding to Natural Disasters: Rowing Against a Fast-Rising Tide of Risk
This essay provides a brief overview of the increasing frequency and growing risk of natural disasters, surveys the natural disaster landscape in the MENA region, and briefly discusses efforts to develop strategies for reducing losses by emphasizing prevention and preparedness.
Iraqi Narrative of U.S. Invasion Struggles to Be Heard
A new American opera called Fallujah debuted this spring, bringing attention to post-traumatic stress disorders suffered by U.S. marines who fought in Iraq. The opera joins a list of American artworks that have explored the impact of the Iraq war on American lives. The big elephant in the room, however, are the Iraqi victims of the war and the deafening silence in U.S. discourse on the horrific consequences the war brought on them.
At a time when Arab governments across the region unveil grand economic reform ‘visions,’ Jordan has launched its own bold scheme to revive its faltering economy. Jordan is looking for a cure to what many Jordanians consider an economic burden: over 1.2 million Syrian migrants due to the war next door.
