Refugees

Syrian pounds are pictured at a currency exchange shop in the town of Sarmada in Syria's northwestern Idlib province, on June 15, 2020.

Syria's interim PM warns foreign currency shortage could hinder refugee return

Nearly 14 years of civil war, international sanctions and the exodus of 4.82 million Syrians have crippled the economy, resulting in a sharp decline of the Syrian pound.

A sign about the heightened level of the counterterrorism response is seen outside HMS Duncan while docked at the Port of Limassol on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, on Oct. 2, 2024.

Cyprus arrests eight Syrians accused of funding terror group: What we know

The arrests come as more Syrians arrive in Cyprus, fleeing the conflicts in Lebanon and Syria.

Displaced people ride on a donkey-drawn cart through a muddy puddle in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Sept. 30, 2024.

Feature

Palestinians long for life before Oct. 7 as Gaza war upends lives, future

One year into the Israeli war on Gaza, as winter approaches, Gazans feel hopeless and trapped in an endless cycle of conflict amid tragic living conditions.

Rasha Abou Jalal

By Rasha Abou Jalal

In Gaza City, reporting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Mayssa (C), 15, and Yara (R), 10, from Khan Younis, on board the UAE evacuation flight that arrived from Eilat to Abu Dhabi on Sept. 9, 2025.

UAE evacuates nearly 100 Gaza patients as 10,000+ await transfer

Abu Dhabi has pledged to bring in 1,000 injured children and 1,000 cancer patients from the Gaza Strip to be treated in the its hospitals.

United Arab Emirates

Latest News

From Egypt to Saudi: Meet Middle East's athletes at Paris Olympics

This photograph shows Paris 2024 Olympics Games banner in front of the National Assembly, in Paris, on July 18, 2024.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

Analysis

As Europe's far right surges, North Africa immigration takes center stage

Migrants from Tunisia and Lybia arrive onboard of an Italian Guardia Costiera (Coast Guard) boat in the Italian Pelagie Island of Lampedusa on Aug. 1, 2020.

In Bristol, reporting on regional business, climate change, AI, tech

Sign up to our Daily Briefing

Keep up with Al-Monitor's top stories with a morning digest from across the region.

4 dead in northern Syria protests following Turkey's anti-refugee riots

A man rides a motorcycle near a burning Turkish truck during protests against Turkey in al-Bab, in the northern Syrian opposition held region of Aleppo on July 1, 2024.

House spending bill erases UNRWA, Gaza pier funding, blocks refugee resettlement

Exterior view of the U.S. Capitol building prior to a roundtable discussion on Supreme Court Ethics conducted by Democrats of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building on June 11, 2024 in Washington, DC.

Smoke rises during clashes between an extremist group and the Palestinian security forces in Ain al-Hilweh camp, near the southern coastal city of Sidon, Lebanon, April 8, 2017.

Clashes in Lebanon’s Palestinian refugee camp as security void looms

The UN recently warned that poverty and crime is on the rise in the camp due to the Lebanese economic crisis.

Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad gets a red carpet reception on a rare visit to Oman on Feb. 20, 2023. (Photo: Foreign Ministry of Oman)

After Syria earthquake, Saudi Arabia is linchpin to Assad's normalization

If Assad’s earthquake diplomacy succeeds in improving relations with Saudi Arabia, the path to Syria's normalization in Arab politics will be wide open.

Aisha Mohammed Ali, 25, a mother of five who is a refugee from Aleppo, Syria, teaches the alphabet to one of her daughters, on January 5, 2022 in Tripoli, Lebanon. Tripoli is home to one of the country's largest population of Syrian refugees, 9 out of 10 of whom live in extreme poverty. (Photo by Andreea Campeanu/Getty Images)

Syrian refugees in Lebanon turn to TikTok 'begging' for money

TikTok has allowed thousands of refugees in Lebanon to beg for money from donors online by exposing their children and poor conditions to the outside world, a method that heightens the risk of exploitation and human-trafficking.

A man and a woman hold up a banner depicting the image of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini, who died while in the custody of Iranian authorities, during a demonstration denouncing her death by Iraqi and Iranian Kurds outside the UN offices in Arbil, the capital of Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan region, on September 24, 2022. (Photo by SAFIN HAMED/AFP via Getty Images)

Fleeing repression, Iran's Kurdish activists struggle to find refuge in Iraq

The Kurdistan Region of Iraq has become a key escape route for an unknown number of Iranian Kurds fleeing brutal repression and torture in Iran, but most fail to find security and stability in Iraq.

Turkish riot police

'We are in a very dangerous situation,' Kuwait's five sisters plead for help to stay in Turkey

Five Kuwaiti sisters, including two minors, say they escaped domestic violence and sexual abuse, and are now beseeching Turkish authorities and civic groups for a safe life.

Greek coastguard rescuers recover a body from the sea off the island of Kythira, at the southern end of the Peloponnese Peninsula on October 9, 2022. (Photo by SAVVAS KARMANIOLAS/AFP via Getty Images)

Even after the 'visa war,' the bad and the ugly lingers between EU, Global South

Continuing immigration pressures complicate relations for both aging Europe and the nations to the south and east with booming populations.

A young woman from Syria (seated) reacts to a mild electric current in the gloves she is wearing that is meant to simulate the effect of Parkinson's disease at a jobs fair for refugees that promotes training programs and jobs in the caregiving and health care industries on January 14, 2019 in Berlin, Germany. (Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)

'I do...I'm done': Divorce spikes among Syrian refugee women in Germany

The transition to their new lives in Germany has led some Syrian women to end their marriages away from the prying eyes of their home communities.

A displaced Syrian child carries a jug of water.

Water crisis worsens in Syria's Idlib as support dries up

The "Goal" organization, which has been active in Syria since 2012, has stopped pumping water in villages and towns as support for it ends

Incoming Syrian refugees who were suddenly deported from Turkey await to register with officials.

Half a million Syrians return from Turkey, but were they forced?

Some 560,000 Syrian refugees in Turkey have returned to their country as part of deportation projects, many fleeing the harassment they were facing in the country.

Children wearing the uniforms of national soccer teams playing at the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup line up during the opening ceremony of the "Camps World Cup" at the newly reopened Idlib Municipal Stadium, Idlib, Syria, Nov. 19, 2022.

Syrian children in Idlib take part in own World Cup

Refugee and internally displaced children in Idlib are taking part in the "Camps World Cup" event.

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz

Israeli defense minister fosters security ties in Azerbaijan

Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz traveled this week to Azerbaijan on the backdrop of growing tensions with Iran and Jerusalem’s desire to deepen strategic, security and economic ties with Baku.

A Syrian woman fills a container with water at the Sahlah al-Banat camp in the countryside of Raqqa, northern Syria, Sept. 19, 2022.

Concerns grow over cholera epidemic reaching northern Syria

The Syrian opposition fears that cholera will reach its areas of control in northwestern Syria, which would be catastrophic, especially since the area’s resilience to the epidemic is low with weak capabilities of the health sector and a great number of displaced persons in camps.