With the collapse of the Iraqi state in 2003, the West became fixated on keeping refugees from the Middle East out of Europe. The result was extraordinary efforts to contain displaced Syrians within the region through bilateral agreements, ‘development’ financing, and the establishment of humanitarian aid camps. This paper suggests that Western efforts to contain displaced people within the region was like fighting a ‘straw man’. That is, relatively few of those displaced by war and armed conflict in the region had any desire to seek asylum in Europe. Rather, depending upon social, economic, kinship networks, and historical ties within the Ottoman empire, they preferred to remain in the region following pre-established transnational migrations corridors. This paper argues that the current hosting of between 5-6 million Syrians in the Levant is based on Ottoman precedents and pre-colonial practices and less on the containment policies of 21st century fortress Europe.