Tracing housing aid modalities and solutions to protracted displacement: experiences among Sri Lanka’s northern Muslims

Abstract As protractedness in displacement rises, the need for sustainable solutions remains urgent. This article traces the roles of housing aid in displacement and in the search for solutions to displacement. We draw on the case of Sri Lanka’s Northern Muslims’ internal displacement in 1990, with its protracted history. We build on data from 2021 to 2022, long after the 2009 end of the civil war, which provides insight into how IDPs in different locations reflect on the roles of housing aid for return and staying. We find that the location and iteration of housing aid, or housing aid modalities, are crucial for understanding people’s reflections and choices in protracted (internal) displacement. Housing (aid) clearly intertwines with livelihood opportunities, security, and ethno-political landscapes. By integrating attention to translocal realities with the emergent nature of solutions, where displaced populations’ agency concerning housing aid comes to the fore, this article contributes to urgent debates on possible ends to displacement.