In this episode of The Refugee Archive Roundtable, we host a critical discussion on the paper "Prolonging the Temporary: Female-Headed Syrian Refugee Households on Displacement, Return and Waiting post-Assad". Featured guests Dr. Jasmin Lilian Diab and Assma Awkal unpack the complex lived experiences and migration decisions of Syrian women navigating protracted displacement in Lebanon. Moving beyond oversimplified narratives of passive victimhood, their research utilizes feminist theory and intersectionality to show how these women act as strategic agents of resilience. The conversation explores how the absence of a male spouse, ongoing socioeconomic precarity, and the systemic threat of patriarchal violence shape deeply complex choices regarding voluntary return, irregular migration, and the painful state of "waiting" for resettlement. This webinar highlights the urgent need for gender-responsive global refugee policies that prioritize the protection of vulnerable, female-led householdsTimestamps00:00 Welcome to The Refugee Archive Roundtable03:15 Shifting Paradigms: From Passive Victims to Agents of Resilience08:40 The Reality of "Waiting" as an Active Migration Strategy14:10 Why the Fall of the Assad Regime Exacerbated Uncertainty for Women19:55 Designing Gender-Responsive Refugee Policies & Protecting Single MothersAbout The SeriesThe Refugee Archive Roundtable is a webinar series bringing together scholars, university teams, and researchers whose work examines female-headed households and displaced single mothers worldwide to connect academic insights with real-world global impact.