Yugoslav Refugees in the Egyptian Desert : Western Humanitarian Aid and the British Military, 1944-1947

During World War II, more than 40,000 Yugoslav refugees were relocated to `tent cities’ in the Egyptian desert and, for two years, lived alongside Western aid workers and members of the British military.

The latter’s involvement in the migrant crisis would go on to form the foundation of the UNRRA (UN Relief and Rehabilitation Administration) and future Western refugee policy, the far-reaching consequences of which can still be seen today. Kornelija Ajlec here provides the first monograph-length study of this important programme, which has, for various reasons, been subject to historiographical debate and controversy ever since.

Ajlec draws on extensive and original archival research in the US, Croatia, the UK and Serbia, as well as interviews with Western aid workers involved in the camps, to reveal the intricacies behind the camps’ establishment, their functioning, their closure and the nuanced implications of the programme (during and long after the period) from Egyptian, British and Yugoslav perspectives.

This is important reading for historians from a wide range of geographical specialisms, as well as those working on the World War II, Cold War, humanitarian aid, propaganda, memory and historiography.

In addition, this timely monograph will be of interest to researchers on refugee policy in wider geographical and contemporary contexts.