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Safe and voluntary refugee repatriation: from principle to practice
The article discusses the principles of voluntariness, safety, and dignity in the context of refugee repatriation. It begins by setting out the applicable legal framework, and discusses how that framework has been elaborated upon and refined since 1951. The article then discusses how the principles of voluntariness, safety, and dignity have, in practice, been applied (or, in a few unfortunate cases, ignored). After noting that we are now living in an era of protracted refugee emergencies, the article concludes with a number of recommendations regarding alternatives to repatriation and the conditions under which repatriation can take place without offense to the principles of voluntariness, safety, and dignity.
Non-refoulement as custom and jus cogens? Putting the prohibition to the test
Abstract: The norm of non-refoulement is at the heart of the international protection of refugees yet there remains a lack of consensus as to its status. In this contribution, we examine the question whether it has attained the status of a jus cogens norm. Adopting the methodology of ‘custom plus’ we first examine whether non-refoulement has attained the status of custom, concluding that widespread state practice and opinio juris underpin the view that it is clearly a norm of customary international law. Moreover, much of this evidence also leads to the conclusion that it is ripe for recognition as a norm of jus cogens, due to its universal, non-derogatory character. In other words, it is a norm accepted and recognised by the international community of states as a whole as a norm from which no derogation is permitted. The chapter then examines the consequences for its recognition as jus cogens, exploring some of the many ways in which jus cogens status may have meaningful implications for the norm of non-refoulement.
Choices, preferences and priorities in a matching system for refugees
We propose a 'matching system' that simultaneously gives refugees some choice over where they seek protection and respects states' priorities over refugees they can accept. Syrians fleeing the current conflict have been repeatedly told that they cannot ‘choose’ the state in which they seek long-term protection. In Australia, the idea that asylum seekers are ‘shopping’ for the best sanctuary forms a persistent part of the rhetoric around keeping them out. In these and other cases, the premise is that it is unjustifiable for refugees to be allowed some choice over where they seek protection. The consequence enshrined in the Dublin Regulation is that refugees may apply for asylum in only one European Union country. From the perspective of states, refugee flows are chaotic, unpredictable and widely regarded as socially disruptive and destabilising. Everyone recognises that the Dublin Regulation, which seeks to address this by placing the obligation to render asylum on the first EU country an asylum seeker reaches, is not fit for purpose. In parallel, there is an urgent need to design systems to overcome the political deadlock among European states over asylum.
Performing the human: refugees, the body, and the politics of universalism
This paper explores the conflict between the pervasive representation of refugees as the pure embodiment of humanity, and the continuing efforts to dehumanise them through various ‘othering’ strategies. Just as being human is an ever-unfolding process and not a static state of being, ‘refugeeness’ is a site of contestation where discourses regarding culture, society, economy, and politics constantly interact. Drawing on feminist and queer theories, this paper argues that the body is a vital site of identity construction, particularly with regards to the idea of humanity. Going beyond the existing literature on the relationship between ‘refugeeness’ and the body from an Agambean approach where the body is subjected to state control and discipline, this paper offers an alternative approach, that the body is not only subjected to discipline and regulation but also (re)produces, constructs, and resists ideas about identity and difference. Using three case studies of corporeal protests—naked protest, hunger strikes, and lip-sewing—this paper explores what these corporeal acts by refugees communicate as acts of resistance and attempts to reassert their humanity, and what role the body has in the construction and performance of humanity. The case studies prompt us to question our positionality in the ever-changing world; how our lives may be implicated in relations of violence; and how the body may offer a vehicle through which we can foster empathy and the capacity to shorten the distance between ‘the other’ and ‘the self’.
The Syrian Humanitarian Disaster: Disparities in Perceptions, Aspirations, and Behaviour in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey
Abstract: Humanitarian assistance coupled with an unsustainable policy of regional containment have only created greater poverty and misery for Syrians fleeing civil war. How this has been allowed to happen on the southern shores of the Mediterranean – where extraordinary social linkages and networks have existed for centuries – lies mainly in the disparities between perceptions, aspirations and behaviour among refugees, practitioners and policymakers in Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey. This article highlights in particular three such disconnects: the a historical approach to engaging with displaced people in Jordan, Turkey and Lebanon, which has led to the implementation of international blueprints of humanitarian support that are disconnected from people’s needs; the imposition of an encampment policy at odds with displaced people’s need for temporary settlement enabled through their own social networks; the redundancy of humanitarian practitioners’ background and experience in dealing with the particularities of displaced populations in the Eastern Mediterranean, and the failure to build on practices that work.
Victoire in Kigali, or: why Rwandan elections are not won transnationally
ABSTRACT This article brings together the literature on ‘electoral authoritarian regimes’ with the sub-fields of diaspora studies and transnationalism to evaluate the potential of political parties in exile to be forces for positive change in Rwanda. With this in mind, the article asks one simple question: is the participation of the Rwandan opposition in exile in electoral processes back home likely to be a positive force for change? It concludes that, in Rwanda at least, elections cannot be won transnationally. As such, those hoping for a more democratic Rwanda should look elsewhere. Operating in a transnational space appears to make life harder for the opposition, but not the Rwandan state. Further, the division, inconsistency, sudden shifts, splits, and volte-face of Rwanda’s diasporic opposition is produced, at least in part, by the competitive authoritarian nature of Rwanda. What the Rwandan case reveals, then, is at least one instance where unfair elections do not make future liberalisation more likely.
Micro-finance in refugee contexts: current scholarship and research gaps
Strengthening refugees’ livelihoods and supporting their economic self-reliance is one of the most pressing and daunting challenges in the forced migration arena. Most refugees are obliged to become ‘entrepreneurs’ due to the dearth of formal employment opportunities in their place of asylum, underscoring the importance of financial assets (Jacobsen 2005). UNHCR (2011a) recognises that access to financial capital is a vital element in the pursuit of self-reliance for refugees and highlights the crucial role of micro-finance in providing access to credit and loans for refugees, who are usually excluded from mainstream financial services. Compared to more conventional humanitarian hand-outs, the provision of financial services to refugees is viewed as a more dignified way of assisting displaced populations, and one that empowers people to engage in their own income-generation activities (Azorbo 2011). Thus, the UN refugee agency now situates micro-finance as part of its comprehensive livelihood support strategy for refugees (UNHCR 2011a). The field of micro-finance and poverty reduction has generated a substantial body of knowledge and best practices for the design, implementation and assessment of micro-credit and other loan programmes. However, developing successful micro-finance interventions for refugees necessitates a reflection on the specific characteristics and situations of refugee populations (Nourse 2004). Although literature on micro-finance in international development has been well-developed, little is known of the success and failure of these financial programmes for refugee populations (Bagula 2011). Furthermore, despite the widespread use of financial terminology in the field of forced migration, the actual conditions that enable entrepreneurs – refugee and otherwise – to successfully form enterprises have been largely ignored in development literature, including in field manuals for practitioners. Against this backdrop, this paper surveys the existing literature on the use of micro-finance with refugee populations in the Global South and identifies some gaps in current scholarship. Both authors have worked as researchers and practitioners in forced migration and possess extensive experience running and evaluating micro-finance programmes for refugee populations in the Global South. Thus, the paper also draws upon our personal observations and field experiences regarding micro-finance assistance.
Humanitarian dilemmas in a mobile world
This special issue of Refugee Survey Quarterly presents the experiences of front-line staff in Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as they grapple with the implications of the global refugee crisis. Over the past 18 months, hundreds of thousands of people have moved from Africa and the Middle East to Europe, generating widespread media attention and considerable political wrangling. But for aid workers, this situation raises questions that get to the very heart of humanitarianism and its purpose in the contemporary world. How does an organisation like MSF, the pioneer of “sans-frontierism”, engage with the shifting politics of borders and migration? What, practically, does it mean to be a “borderless” organisation in a world where migration controls are such a big political issue? What are the implications of the refugee crisis for humanitarian principles and medical care? This introduction to the special issue brings some humanitarian dilemmas into focus, arguing that, in reaction to the migration crisis, aid agencies may have no option but to take a more robustly political approach.
Humanitarian neophilia: the ‘innovation turn’ and its implications
This paper critically examines the ‘humanitarian innovation’ movement, arguing that it represents a departure from classical principles and the entry of a distinctive new ideology into the sector. Labelling this ‘humanitarian neophilia’, the paper argues that it has resonances of Barbrook and Cameron’s ‘Californian Ideology’, with its merging of New Left and New Right within the environs of Silicon Valley. Humanitarian neophilia, similarly, comes from a diverse ideological heritage, combining an optimistic faith in the possibilities of technology with a commitment to the power of markets. It both ‘understates the state’ and ‘overstates the object’, promoting a vision of self-reliant subjects rather than strong nation-states realising substantive socioeconomic rights.
Refugee voices: exploring the border zones between states and state bureaucracies
Settled people have been forced to move and nomads have been coerced into settling for as long as there has been history. Until the emergence of the Westphalian concept of the nation (where the state corresponded to the nation, groups of people united by language and culture), movement and mobility were largely recognized and accommodated. However, most contemporary academic disciplines as well as public institutions adopt a particular sedentist perspective on the nation-state. It is commonly recognized that people are displaced and move when political states collapse; they return when political security is restored. The liminal “state” outside the defined territory of the nation-state, where the displaced are found, is regarded as a threat to the world order.1 Predominant theory has been that people must be tied to territory, and thus the durable policy solutions advanced are frequently about resettlement. Reality does not support either current forced migration theory or humanitarian aid practices, however, and an epistemological change in thinking about forced migrants is urgently required. This means looking beyond the nationstate— the purview of most academic work in this area— and beyond traditional barriers between disciplines, to give cross-disciplinary attention to the self-expressions and experiences of forced migrants. Furthermore, the forced migrant creates a dilemma in how aesthetic expression is displayed, as their forms of expression cannot be squarely identified with one state or another. The dispossessed and displaced are changed by their experiences in the grey zones between states, and their migrations cannot be neatly catalogued as belonging to one state or culture.
Human rights and forced migration
Chapter 18 in the book Human Rights: Politics and Practice. In this book, edited by Michael Goodhart, a team of international experts combine the latest theoretical developments with unrivalled coverage of the practical and political dynamics of human rights. Throughout the text, helpful features support students' learning, challenging them to think critically and to question their own assumptions.
(Loan) cycles of innovation: researching refugee-run micro-finance
Refugees across the global South are increasingly choosing to venture into cities rather than staying in camps. Currently, approximately half of the global refugee population now lives and pursues their livelihoods in non-camp settings. Increasingly, these urban refugees are undertaking their own entrepreneurial initiatives, often in sectors in which they have no prior experience. Most also lack access to the micro-loans that could help them start businesses. Few refugee-serving organisations have comprehensive loan programmes, and micro-finance institutions (MFIs) rarely target refugees as beneficiaries. Lack of legal status often prohibits refugees from becoming MFI clients or opening bank accounts in host countries, and lenders’ fears of refugees leaving the host country increase uncertainty about loan repayments and sources of collateral. Refugees in receipt of free assistance have sometimes perceived loans as handouts, and may not have adequate community or other support to successfully repay loans. Despite these obstacles, and the fact that the majority of urban refugees survive without institutional assistance, little research exists on whether and how they access micro-finance. In particular, refugees’ own micro-savings and micro-lending groups (termed here refugee-run micro-finance) have not been comprehensively researched. This means that, despite an awareness of these groups, there is no real understanding of how they operate within communities, how they interact (if at all) with outside capital providers and the main challenges they face. Our research project, funded by the Humanitarian Innovation Fund (HIF), aims to illuminate not only the current state of micro-finance for urban refugees but also how refugees’ own communities and networks can act as sites of innovation for bottom-up micro-finance programmes. We are currently mapping existing initiatives and programmes in Kampala, and have already identified 25 refugee-run micro-finance programmes. Our work aims to expand upon the existing micro-finance structures refugees have created within their own communities, and to learn how these could be linked to MFIs (both Ugandan banks and MFIs and international non-profit lenders such as Kiva). We aim to provide evidence-driven recommendations for micro-finance providers and develop a model that builds on refugee-run micro-finance initiatives. In this way, we hope to provide avenues for urban refugees to directly access capital. To do this, various questions must be more comprehensively answered. What degree of access to financial tools is available to refugees? From a lender’s point of view, what conditions would enable refugees’ access to micro-finance? Are refugee- run micro-loans and micro-savings groups successful and, if so, how could these be expanded?
Military actors and humanitarian innovation: questions, risks and opportunities
The role of military actors in the international humanitarian landscape has expanded over the last two decades. However, despite growing acknowledgment by humanitarians of the need to search ‘outside’ the traditional humanitarian community for new products, processes and innovations, very little systematic research has examined militaries as a reference point for informing humanitarian innovation. The nature of civil–military relations across the humanitarian community is complex and often fractious; that this lack of engagement extends to the discourse around humanitarian innovation is unsurprising. Nonetheless, a major research gap exists in understanding both the risks and lesson-learning opportunities that military actors present to humanitarian innovation. This article looks at military actors as a serious subject of study and debate within the humanitarian innovation discourse, and calls for further research on this topic. We outline three areas of exploration, drawing on research conducted at the Oxford Humanitarian Innovation Project (HIP) in 2015, supported by consultations with expert practitioners, policymakers and researchers from across the aid sector, militaries and academia. Taken together, this work suggests the need for better understanding of both the opportunities and hazards that military actors pose to the humanitarian innovation agenda.
Global governance and forced migration
Chapter in the Routledge Handbook of Immigration and Refugee Studies (edited by Anna Triandafyllidou). About the book: The Routledge Handbook of Immigration and Refugee Studies offers a comprehensive and unique study of the multi-disciplinary field of international migration and asylum studies. Utilising contemporary information and analysis, this innovative Handbook provides an in depth examination of legal migration management in the labour market and its affect upon families in relation to wider issues of migrant integration and citizenship. With a comprehensive collection of essays written by leading contributors from a broad range of disciplines including sociology of migration, human geography, legal studies, political sciences and economics, the Handbook is a truly multi-disciplinary book approaching the critical questions of: Migration and the labour market; Integration and citizenship; Migration, families and welfare; Irregular migration; Smuggling and trafficking in human beings; and Asylum and forced migration. Organised into short thematic and geographical chapters the Routledge Handbook of Immigration and Refugee Studies provides a concise overview on the different topics and world regions, as well as useful guidance for both the starting and the more experienced reader. The Handbook’s expansive content and illustrative style will appeal to both students and professionals studying in the field of migration and international organisations.
Humanitarian innovation, integration, and the architecture of refugee protection
Chapter in the book "Migration and Integration: New Models for Mobility and Coexistence" (edited by R. Hsu and C. Reinprecht). About the book: Globalization has led to new forms, and dynamics, of migration and mobility. What are the consequences of these changes for the processes of reception, settlement and social integration, for social cohesion, institutional practices and policies? The essays collected in this volume discuss these issues with reference to recent research on migration and mobility in Europe, the US, North and East Africa and South and Southeast Asia. The twenty authors are leading migration researcher from different academic fields such as sociology, geography, political science and cultural studies.
Examining the impact of UNIDO’s training on the economic reintegration of repatriated refugees in Liberia
Drawing upon research in Liberia, this paper explores the impact of UNIDO’s vocational training programmes on promoting the economic integration of returnees. Between 2013 and 2014, UNIDO provided two training programmes in Liberia to help facilitate the process of reintegration of repatriates from neighbouring countries. The research team conducted a study with 74 beneficiaries of these programmes using survey questionnaires and interviews. The study presents mixed findings about the impact of UNIDO’s programmes on these returnees. Even after completion of the training programmes, the majority of trainees remained jobless in an economy damaged by the devastating effects of the Ebola crisis, although most recognized the value of the vocational training provided by UNIDO. Given the multi-faceted nature of economic integration, the provision of training programmes alone may be limited in enabling meaningful integration of returnees into fragile post-crisis environments. The research also produced some concrete recommendations to assist UNIDO in its efforts to develop more effective programmes for the reintegration of returnees. Additional studies are required to better understand the conditions under which vocational training becomes most relevant to repatriating refugees who need to construct their economic foundation in a post-conflict country.
Book Review: Governing Refugees: Justice, Order and Legal Pluralism
Often portrayed as a ‘state of exception’ (Agamben, 1995), refugee camps are typically associated with images of anarchy, disorder, violence or insecurity. In part, these perceptions can be attributed to the dearth of comprehensive books that focus on existing governance and political systems inside refugee camps, with the exception of a few seminal works (e.g. Agier, 2011; Lischer, 2005; Turner, 2010). Governing Refugees: Justice, Order and Legal Pluralism is a major contribution to this field of study. McConnachie marshals detailed empirical evidence to challenge prevailing assumptions and argues that refugee camps should be recognized as vibrant spaces where political, cultural and social lives emerge, extending beyond a conception of camps as ‘exceptional’ legal and political spaces. Drawing upon in-depth fieldwork in the Karen refugee camps in Thailand, this book elucidates everyday practices of governance and the administration of justice in the quotidian lives of camp populations.
Home-making during protracted exile: diverse responses of refugee families in the face of remigration
Through in-depth case studies about repatriation decision-making among Liberian refugees, this article examines how different processes of home-making during prolonged exile affects their return decisions and result in diverse familial responses to repatriation. Conceptualizations of forced displacement are often tied to notions about “loss of homeland” and exile, with references made to being literally “out of place.” This, however, ignores the reality that during protracted exile in a refugee camp refugees also establish links to new places and become “emplaced,” creating a new “home” that is meaningful to them. Importantly, even among those living in the same refugee camp, this process of emplacement is experienced differently, mediated by age, gender, marital status, and personal goals. When refugees consider returning to their country of origin, refugee families often struggle to come up with unified agreements about remigration decisions, leading to internal contestation among family members who have different aspirations and expectations. Drawing upon over 300 interviews, the article reveals how different patterns of home-making impact refugees’ decisions whether to repatriate or remain in exile and highlights some of the problems inherently embedded in the promotion of repatriation as the best durable solution for all refugees.
Innovation spaces: lessons from the United Nations
This paper explores the notion of ‘innovation spaces’ within the UN system, as physical and virtual laboratories for innovation. Using empirical research in a range of innovation labs the authors explore four key questions: what form UN innovation labs have taken, what has motivated their creation, what their aims and objectives are, and what impact they are having. The answers to these questions promote reflection on the future of innovation spaces, particularly an analysis of whether a model of ‘siloed’ innovation spaces will survive in the humanitarian system. The paper demonstrates the important role that innovation labs play in the UN system, as well as grappling with the challenges they face.
Human mobility as a resource in conflict: the case of Syria
Human movement remains the primary unit of analysis in much theorising on forced migration and humanitarian practice in conflict. Whilst movement is often portrayed as an indicator of vulnerability, sometimes even as a problem per se, I suggest thinking of mobility, taking this broader term to signify the ‘freedom to choose where to be’ (de Haas 2014), as a resource through which one can mitigate the consequences of violence and conflict and access a better life. In this context, vulnerability, understood as the capacity to cope with conflict, is de-coupled from movement, since mobility, as the ability to choose where to be, includes the option to stay. Class (Van Hear 2004, 2014), encompassing differential access to economic, social and cultural forms of capital, shapes the ability to rely on mobility as a resource. Mobility in conflict is both socially stratified and socially stratifying as, by being differently available, mobility empowers individuals who already have more extensive forms of capital to rely on, whilst increasing the vulnerability of those who do not. The case of Syria displays many of these dynamics and illustrates the urgency of adopting a wider lens in the analysis of mobility and vulnerability in conflict.