I am Duaa Noureddine, a researcher and practitioner in migration, gender, and humanitarian studies with extensive experience in gender-based violence (GBV) programming in Lebanon. My work explores how displacement, statelessness, and humanitarian responses intersect, often through a gendered lens. Together with Dr. Nadia Sonneveld, I co-authored Death, Migration, and Identity: Comparing Burial Practices Among Refugees and Migrants in Lebanon and Morocco, a piece that began with a simple question about logistics where and how refugees are buried; and unfolded into an exploration of belonging, dignity, and identity for people who cross borders, often without the possibility of return.
The research challenged me to confront how displacement does not end with life but continues after death, shaping where and how people are laid to rest. Conversations with families, aid workers, and community leaders blurred the lines between personal grief, cultural traditions, and the politics of space, reminding me that migration is not only about movement but also about exclusion, memory, and the right to belong even in death.
This collaboration deepened my commitment to exploring the human dimensions of migration and statelessness. Each story carried weight: families negotiating burial costs, aid workers searching for dignified resting places, communities trying to preserve traditions far from home. These experiences made me reflect on the many visible and invisible borders migrants face, and on what it truly means to belong somewhere, even when life has ended.