In 2013, IKEA invested millions of dollars into developing portable homes for Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Despite a successful design, the Lebanese government allowed only a handful to be set up on a trial run. With weatherproof walls and solar panels for electricity, the structures were sound. Possibly too sound. The government worried they would keep refugees from returning home.
Five years later and civil war continues in Syria. And yet, during election campaigns in Lebanon and nearby Turkey this spring, politicians rallied around a common theme: repatriating the Syrian refugee community. Together, the two countries have accepted a total of almost 4.5 million Syrians fleeing civil war. In the past year, local hostility towards the refugee community has hit a peak and both countries have stepped up efforts to encourage refugees to go home. But, across the borders in Syria, plans for reconstruction could hinder repatriation as the government looks to build a new society on top of the country’s old communities.
