Faith-based humanitarianism in contexts of forced migration

Researcher(s): Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh

Collaborator(s):

Prof. Alastair Ager (Columbia University)                                           Joey Ager, Sarah Miller (QEH) and Chloe Lewis (QEH)

Dates: 2010–present

Donors: The Commonwealth Foundation and The Henry Luce Foundation (2010-2011), Joint Learning Initiative on Faith and Local Communities (2012)

Although faith communities and faith-based organisations (FBOs) are often at the forefront of humanitarian responses to people affected by conflict, crisis and forced migration across the globe, little is known about the scale, nature and impacts of their interventions.

Aims

This two-stage project explores the motivations and practices of faith communities and FBOs in their response to forced displacement around the world. A range of key questions will be explored including:

  • To what extent do faith-based initiatives challenge or complement international humanitarian norms of neutrality, impartiality and universality?
  • How do displaced populations interact with faith-based and secular humanitarian organisations, including those which may attempt to proselytise amongst displaced populations?
  • How do displaced people themselves develop faith-based humanitarian responses?

These and other questions will be examined in relation to specific contexts of displacement from across the global south and global north, and will engage with displaced populations and aid providers of diverse religious backgrounds.

Stage one of this project (2010-2011) involved a one-day international workshop with 60 scholars and practitioners on ‘Faith-based humanitarianism: the response of faith-based communities and faith-based organisations in the context of forced migration’ held at the Refugee Studies Centre in September 2010. Download the conference papers. Listen to a podcast at Forced Migration Online of the closing lecture by Dr Elizabeth Ferris, The Brookings Institute. Selected conference papers were subsequently published as part of a Special Issue of the Journal of Refugee Studies guest edited by Elena Fiddian-Qasimyeh (Sep. 2011, Vol 24, No. 3).

In stage two of this project (March 2012 - present), Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh is collaborating with a "Joint Learning Initiative" on Local Faith Communities and Resilience involving academics, policy makers, practitioners and representatives from a diversity of faith communities to explore the nature and impacts of initiatives developed by local faith communities in humanitarian situations. A major JLI scoping report edited by Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh and Alastair Ager (Program on Forced Migration & Health, Columbia University) was published in February 2013 as an RSC/JLI Working Paper, and a Forced Migration Online resource summary page on local faith communities and humanitarianism was launched in April 2013.

Activities and impacts

In January 2013, Elena was awarded the Lisa Gilad Prize by the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) for 'the most innovative and thoughtful contribution to the advancement of refugee studies' in 2011 and 2012. The prize was awarded in recognition of her article 'The Pragmatics of Performance: putting 'faith' in aid in the Sahrawi refugee camps' which was published in the Special Issue of the Journal of Refugee Studies which she edited on Faith-Based Humanitarianism in Contexts of Forced Displacement in 2011 (vol. 24, issue 3).

Presentations and workshops related to this project have engaged various academic, civil society, and religious and policy representatives:

  • 'Humanitarianism and the Veiling of Religious Markers in the Sahrawi Refugee Camps,' paper presented by Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh at the 'Religion in Diaspora' conference at Wadham College, University of Oxford, July 2012
  • 'Perspectives from Practice: A Response,' presented by Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh at the Second Meeting of the Learning Hub Advisory Group on Local Faith Communities and Resilience in Humanitarian Situations, Lambeth Palace, May 2012
  • 'Introductory Reflections on Local Faith Communities and Humanitarian Situations,' presented by Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh at the First Meeting of the Learning Hub Advisory Group on Local Faith Communities and Resilience in Humanitarian Situations, Lambeth Palace, April 2012
  • ‘Reflections on Faith-Based Humanitarianism in Contexts of Displacement’, presented by Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh at the launch of the Special Issue of the Journal of Refugee Studies, Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford University, November 2011
  • ‘Conflicting missions? The Politics of Evangelical Humanitarianism in Middle Eastern and North African Protracted Refugee Situations’ presented by Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh at the ‘Transnational Religion, Missionisation, and Refugee Migrants in Comparative Perspective’ conference, Max Planck Institute, October 2011
  • ‘The Tyranny of Tolerance? Mobilising evangelical humanitarianism in the Sahrawi refugee camps’ presented by Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh at the Conference ‘Faith-Based Organisations and Humanitarian Aid’ jointly organised by Friedensau University and the Max Planck Institute, April 2011
  • ‘Invoking Inter-Faith Dialogues and Good Muslim Refugees: a North African case-study’ presented by Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh at ‘The Modern Maghreb’ conference, Oxford University, March 2011
  • ‘The Pragmatics of Performance: putting “faith” in aid’ presented by Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh at the conference “Faith-Based Humanitarianism: The response of faith communities and faith-based organizations to people affected by conflict, crisis and forced migration”, Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford University, September 2010
  • A one-day international workshop with 60 scholars and practitioners on ‘Faith-based humanitarianism: the response of faith-based communities and faith-based organisations in the context of forced migration’, Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford, September 2010. Download the conference papers. Listen to a podcast at Forced Migration Online of the closing lecture by Dr Elizabeth Ferris, The Brookings Institute


Selected publications

Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. and Ager, A. (Eds), Local Faith Communities and the promotion of resilience in humanitarian situations, RSC/JLI Working Paper 90, Oxford: Refugee Studies Centre, February 2013.

Joint Learning Initiative on Local Faith Communities (2012) 'Local faith communities and resilience in humanitarian situations', RSC Forced Migration Policy Note, Oxford: Refugee Studies Centre, December 2012.

Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2012) "Conflicting Missions? The politics of Evangelical humanitarianism in the Western Sahara and Palestine-Israel," in A. Horstmann and J.H. Jung (Eds) Refugees and Religion: Missionization, Shelter and Transnational Cmmunication, Palgrave MacMillan, scheduled for publication in 2013.

Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2012) Conflicting Missions? The politics of Evangelical humanitarianism in the Sahrawi and Palestinian protracted refugee situations, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity Working Paper, April 2012.

Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (Ed). (2011) Special Issue on “Faith Based Humanitarianism in Contexts of Forced Displacement,” Journal of Refugee Studies, Vol. 24(3)

Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2011) ‘Introduction: Faith-Based Humanitarianism in Contexts of Forced Displacement,’ Journal of Refugee Studies, Vol. 24(3): 429-439.

Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2011) ‘The Pragmatics of Performance: Putting ‘faith’ in aid in the Sahrawi refugee camps,’ Journal of Refugee Studies, 2011, Vol. 24(3): 533-547.

Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E.(2010) ‘When the Self becomes Other: Representations of gender, Islam and the politics of survival in the Sahrawi refugee camps’ in D. Chatty and B. Findlay (eds), Dispossession and Displacement: Forced Migration in the Middle East and North Africa, Oxford University Press.

Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. and Qasmiyeh, Y. M. (2010) ‘Asylum-seekers and refugees from the Middle East and North Africa: Negotiating politics, religion and identity in the UK’, Journal of Refugee Studies, Vol. 23, No. 3.

Research in the News

The RSC/JLI Working Paper on  Local Faith Communities and the promotion of resilience in humanitarian situations edited by Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh and Alastair Ager, and a blog posting by RSC/JLI researcher Joey Ager discussing the report, were referenced in The Guardian's article Faith-based organisations: should dogma be left out of development? (20 May 2012). 

Other Information

Elena is the co-editor and co-founder of the Religion and Global Migrations book series (with colleagues Susie Snyder and Jennifer B Saunders); the series was launched by Palgrave-Macmillan in February 2013.

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