Dislocation after disaster: What does ‘returning home’ mean?
| Published date | 01 August 2023 |
| Author | Louise K. Comfort |
| Date | 01 August 2023 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/imig.13167 |
International Migration. 2023;61:337–340.
|
337
wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/imig
Received: 4 June 2 023
|
Accepted: 8 June 202 3
DOI: 10 .1111/imig .13167
COMMENTARY
Dislocation after disaster: What does ‘returning
home’ mean?
Louise K. Comfort1,2
1CITRIS, Unive rsity of Califor nia, Berkeley, Berkel ey, California, USA
2Graduate Sc hool of Public and Inte rnational Affa irs, Universit y of Pittsburgh, P ittsburgh, Pe nnsylvania, USA
Correspondence
Louise K. Co mfort, CITRIS, U niversity of Cal ifornia, Berkeley, 33 0 Sutardja Dai Hall , Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
Email: lcomfort@berkeley.edu
Funding information
National Scien ce Foundation Quick Respo nse Research Program, Gr ant/Award Number: NSF Award #1635593
The shock and disru ption of an extreme event – an earthquake that shattered apartment buildings , shops,
schools an d hospitals, or a tsunami that virtually obl iterates a city, or a flood that has washed away ro adways,
bridges and infrastructure – leaves an unforget table im pact o n the affected communit y. With their homes
ripped away, basic ser vices like wate r, power and gas distribut ion systems damaged and dysfunctional , social
institution s like mosques, churches and schools no longer able to ser ve the community, people leave devastate d
areas. “Just for a sh ort time,” s ome tell the mselves. “Only until we c an rebuild,” others state tentatively. “Th e
pain of los s is too great; we will never re turn,” still other s assert. Th e dilemma of how to cope with t he loss of
physical infrastructure following a damaging event is compounded by the loss of the so cial connectio ns, eco-
nomic livelihoods and the landscape of familiar neighbou rhoods, workplaces, personal artefacts and memor ies
that give life me aning.
This dilemma creates both per sonal and professional choices that cannot be igno red. Whatever choice is made
will shape the next stage in the life of a fam ily, a business, a neighbourhood, a city or the larger region that expe-
rienced the disaster. Yet, those choices are never made by individuals alone, and the choices regarding rebuilding
physical infrastructure are taken in the con text of how long it will take to rebuild the social and economic ne t-
works ess ential to give life meaning, and how thoughtfull y the emotional content of what was lo st can be reimag-
ined into hopefu l new beginnings.
In Türkiye, this dilemma is occurring on multiple levels simultaneously after the Kahramanmaraş Earthquakes
on 6 February 2023. The devastating earthquakes affected a vast area that included 11 provinces, 10 cities with
smaller distr icts, towns, and village s and 13 million residents. At thi s point, over 3.5 million resid ents have left the
area, and s cattered across t he country. Some ref ugees from conflic t zones in Syria retur ned to Syria, after losing
whatever stabilit y they had gained in Turkish communities damaged by the ear thquakes. The difficult plig ht of the
Syrian refu gees who were living in the earthqua ke- affected zone is discussed in more detail by Turkish autho rs
This is an open ac cess article und er the terms of the Crea tive Commons Attr ibution License, w hich permits use , distribution an d
reproduct ion in any medium, pro vided the origina l work is properly cit ed.
© 2023 The Autho r. International Migration published by John Wiley & Son s Ltd on behalf of Interna tional Organiza tion for
Migration.
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