Generation 1.5 Syrian refugee youth in Jordan: Repatriation aspirations before and after the fall of Bashar al-Assad

Abstract

For over 10 years, young Syrian refugees in Jordan have contended with prolonged displacement, endeavouring to forge their futures amidst political instability and constrained socio-economic conditions. This research examines how Generation 1.5 Syrian refugee youth in Jordan navigate their return aspirations in the wake of the Assad regime’s collapse within an environment where political change coexists with persistent insecurity and structural uncertainty. Building on qualitative interviews conducted with 15 youths before and after the collapse of the Assad regime, including the re-interviewing of 11 original participants and the recruitment of four new young individuals in the second round, this study traces changes in perspectives on return and future aspirations. Findings reveal that while some youth now perceive new openings for involvement in Syria’s future, many continue to emphasize uncertainty surrounding governance, justice, and livelihoods. Their visions remain shaped by a decade of displacement, hybrid identities formed in Jordan, and constrained opportunities in both contexts. By tracing return aspirations before and after this political rupture, this study shows that regime change expands the symbolic space in which return can be imagined without resolving the structural barriers that make it feasible. It argues that durable solutions frameworks must recognize that, for a generation that has come of age in exile, return often constitutes a new displacement rather than a straightforward homecoming, and that the right to return must be balanced with legitimate long‑term claims to belong beyond the homeland.