Introduction to Special Issue on Displacement in Iraq

This special issue of International Migration addresses Iraq as both a host country for refugees and a country whose own citizens are displaced inside and outside its borders. The articles were first presented as papers during a large conference (held in English, Arabic, and Kurdish) and hosted by the American University in Kurdistan - Hewler/Erbil (AUK) in April 2017 in cooperation with AUK, the International Organization for Migration and Georgetown University. They were edited, blind peer-reviewed and collected here in this special issue. The articles in this volume provide windows into the strategies employed by forced migrants, the responses of local communities, the governmental and international aid actors and the policies of the Iraqi, Kurdish and other governments. The articles here, all based on primary research conducted in Iraq, show how Iraqis and Syrians continue to manage the risks they face as they remain in displacement or return home. This short introduction will provide historical background on Iraq and its history of displacement and discuss the contributions made by the articles in this issue.