Proceedings of the 2026 5th International Conference on Public Service, Economic Management and Sustainable Development (PESD 2026)

2026 5th International Conference on Public Service, Economic Management and Sustainable Development (PESD 2026)

📍Dali, China🗓️ 11-13 September 2026
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Sovereignty Constraints and the Dilemmas of Multilateralism: The Limits of UNHCR Involvement in the Syrian Crisis

Authors
Xinyin Chen1, *
1Faculty of International Studies, Hiroshima city University, Hiroshima, 731-3194, Japan
*Corresponding author. Email: K11050@e.hiroshima-cu.ac.jp
Corresponding Author
Xinyin Chen
Available Online 10 November 2026.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-825-2_4How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Syrian Refugee Crisis; UNHCR; State Sovereignty; Multilateralism; Lebanon
Abstract

This paper looks at the difficulties faced by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) during the Syrian refugee crisis, under the influence of state sovereignty and problems in international cooperation. After the Syrian conflict began in 2011, large numbers of refugees moved to neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. International organizations, at the same time, faced growing pressure in providing humanitarian assistance and refugee protection. Using Lebanon as an example, the study explores the ways state sovereignty, domestic political interests, and weak international agreement limited the work and effectiveness of UNHCR. It also looks at several problems in multilateral refugee governance, including unequal burden-sharing, and different responses from the international community. The Syrian refugee crisis shows a continuing gap between humanitarian goals and political realities. It also reveals both the value and the limits of international organizations in today’s system of global governance and refugee management frameworks.

Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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Volume Title
Proceedings of the 2026 5th International Conference on Public Service, Economic Management and Sustainable Development (PESD 2026)
Series
Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research
Publication Date
10 November 2026
ISBN
978-94-6239-825-2
ISSN
2352-5428
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-825-2_4How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Xinyin Chen
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/11/10
TI  - Sovereignty Constraints and the Dilemmas of Multilateralism: The Limits of UNHCR Involvement in the Syrian Crisis
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 5th International Conference on Public Service, Economic Management and Sustainable Development (PESD 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 24
EP  - 43
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-825-2_4
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-825-2_4
ID  - Chen2026
ER  -