Paper Prepared for the Migration and Refugee movements in the Middle East and North Africa. The Forced Migration & Refugee Studies Program. The American University in Cairo, Egypt. October 23-25, 2007 Disponible à : http://www.aucegypt.edu/ResearchatAUC/rc/cmrs/Pages/meeting.aspx Syria has hosted since the beginning of the 20th century different refugee groups in large number such as Armenians, Palestinians and more recently Lebanese escaping the last war during the summer 2006. Since 2003 Syria hosts a large Iraqi community. The present exodus of Iraqi refugees has its own specificities: there was no mass exodus in one or two waves, such as in the Palestinian case in 1948, but a growing influx of individuals and families crossing everyday the boundary between Iraq and Syria. There are very important differences of standard of living between the various places of residence and according to the religious group to which the refugees belong and their socioeconomic origin in Iraq. Groups are more or less numerous, more or less organized, or having a more or less large Diaspora abroad. Families are usually scattered, and one can notice the relative dislocation of the family and community networks today, which can however preserve an intra-familial efficiency. Due to the massive exodus, Iraqi family as well as Iraqi communities have to reorganize themselves in exile. The recent geographical scattering of some families and groups in different countries, as well as in different locations in the same country, have generated ruptures in the functioning of the networks. The gap between households with strong local and/or transnational connections and those who do not have access to resources and mobility is increasing with the duration of exile. The vulnerability of the refugees is important, in spite of the tolerant and opened Syrian migratory policy. This paper is based on an ongoing research and aims to present some first results.