This case report focuses on Amman, which has for years been at the center of prolonged refugee experiences. Jordan has served as a haven for different groups fleeing persecution throughout history, from the arrival of Palestinian refugees after 1948 and again after 1967, to the acceptance of Iraqi refugees in the wake of the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003. Since 2012, there has been an influx of Syrian refugees. Recently, Sudanese and Yemeni refugee populations have also started to grow, as has the presence of migrant workers from Egypt, and others from African and Southeast Asian countries.

This Jordanian city is now inhabited by more Syrian refugees than Jordanian hosts. These new arrivals joined Palestinian and Iraqi refugees, as well as southeast Asian and Western economic migrants. Yet the most profound changes in the city—affecting and being affected by refugees’ integration—are megatrends affecting cities the world over: water resources scarcity, a globalizing economy, and rapid population growth. This report provides a view from the ground of a rapidly changing city.

The Bloemfontein case report explores the way migrants from across Africa have succeeded and struggled with integration to a major urban center in South Africa. It looks not only at their experiences, but also the ways in which migrants have transformed the local economy and the culture of certain neighborhoods. The report’s author is herself a Zimbabwean migrant to South Africa who draws on her own experiences living and working in the area.

This case report explores the ways members of the LGBTQI+ Syrian refugee community survive in Beirut, Lebanon amidst extreme prejudice from much of the Lebanese population, the Lebanese government, and other Syrians. It describes the severe limitations to integration in Beirut for this population because of social pressures, healthcare limitations, difficulty finding livelihoods, and legal barriers. The author is a member of the LGBTQI+ refugee community who lived in Beirut.