In this article, I address the issue of ‘refugee’ denomination from the perspective of Syrian refugee women in Lebanon and argue that traditional representations of refugees shape negative interpretations of their own conditions, affect their wellbeing and constrain their abilities to move forward and build a dignified existence in exile. I identified four major areas in my respondents’ perceptions of the term refugee: loss, balancing past life and present reality, humanitarianism and host communities. Apart from voicing the views of one of the most marginalized groups in society, this article highlights the connections between refugee representations, policy making and empowerment.

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Citizenship is broadly understood as the legal framework determining the rights and duties of individuals within a nation-state. The Arab Human Development Report Research Paper of 2019, which assessed the progress made towards, and the challenges that still persist in relation to, inclusive forms of citizenship in the Arab countries, defines citizenship as "a contested historical process consisting of social relationships, both formal and informal, in complex environments" (Abdellatif et al. 2019: 3). As social relationships are affected by legal, economic, political, and cultural practices that vary from culture to culture, citizenship assumes multiple connotations worldwide and is also constructed around religious beliefs, socioeconomic status, family ties, ethnicity, and gender roles whose different ways of being understood in society can generate hierarchies and marginalize some groups or individuals to the advantage of others.