The stories we tell are as important as the funding we commit, says Ana Uzelac of the Clingendael Institute. In Lebanon, she explains, erroneous narratives about refugees limit the ability of donor funding to improve refugees’ well-being in the country.

The Refugees by Viet Thanh Nguyen is a collection of short stories on the refugee experience. Though not specially about the Syrian diaspora, its eloquence and exquisite storytelling is relevant to anyone who wants to get deeper into the greatest humanitarian crisis of our generation. Irrespective if your focus is on Syria, Myanmar, US, Sub-Sahara Africa.