The 6th Migration Conference (TMC 2018) was held at the University of Lisbon, Portugal from 26 to 28 June 2018. TMC 2018 hosted over 100 parallel sessions and plenary sessions with several keynote speakers. The conference provided forum for more than 500 participants including scholars, experts, young researchers, practitioners and policy makers across the globe to exchange their knowledge and experiences in a friendly and frank environment.

According to the press release issued by the Directorate of Press and Public Relations Office of the Near East University, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nur Köprülü, Head of the Department of Political Science of the Near East University Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, attended TMC 2018 and presented her study on the Syrian migrants in Lebanon and Jordan and discussed the issue within the frame of the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean.

In her presentation, Associate Professor Nur Köprülü underlined that the climate of uncertainty, created in the country and in the region by the internal conflicts that started in Syria after Arab uprising in 2011, confronted both the Mediterranean geography and the European Union with the biggest refugee problem that they could ever witness. Köprülü also expressed that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported that a great number of Syrian refugees were hosted mainly by Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon.

The Number of Migrants is rising gradually...
In her study, Associate Professor Nur Köprülü draws attention to the migrant crisis caused by the rising number of people migrating from Syria to the neighboring countries or to the EU countries by crossing the overland or the Mediterranean Sea. UNHCR reports that more than 9 million people left their homes following the outbreak of Syrian War in 2011. According to the report, 6.5 million of people displaced in Syria while approximately 2.5 million of people migrated to the closest neighboring countries, namely to Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon. In her presentation, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nur Köprülü also highlighted that Jordan was one of the countries most affected by the refugee crisis, with the second highest share of refugees compared to its population. Köprülü reminded that Jordan provided shelter for Palestinians emigrated to Jordan following the Arab-Israeli war and then opened its door to Iraqi people migrated to Jordan following the US operation to Iraq in 2003. "This time, the country, which copes with unemployment and economic problems, has opened its doors to Syrian refugees. In countries like Jordan and Lebanon, which host the highest share of refugees compared to their populations, issues like the current discussions on identity, economic and financial problems, political instability particularly in Lebanon are deepening with the ever rising number of refugees.

Lebanon's open door policy towards refugees has become a constantly debated issue, with the model of political power sharing based on denominational identities in the country. The changing population structure in the country has come to a point where it can be linked to political stability" noted she.