On December 11, 2024, a panel discussion titled “Global South Reflections on a Routes-Based Approach to Migration” took place online. The event, hosted by the IDRC Research Chairs Network on Forced Migration and supported by LERRN: The Local Engagement Refugee Research Network, featured Madeline Garlick from UNHCR and two IDRC Research Chairs, Matthew Bird (Peru) and Myriam Cherti (Morocco). The discussion delved into the 2024 UNHCR proposed “routes-based approach” to advancing protection and solutions.ÌęÌęÌę

Madeline Garlick, as Chief of the Protection Policy and Legal Advice Section in the Division of International Protection at UNHCR in Geneva, provided a detailed outline on UNHCR’s perspective on the . This new approach is potentially a paradigm shift in humanitarian responses to migration because of how it restructures protection support from a siloed country-based to integrated routes-based programming. This shift reflects the increased mixed-movements worldwide and the vast suffering among these mixed-movement routes. This approach does not aim to facilitate onward movement of refugees and migrants in an irregular manner, but rather seeks to find lawful ways to reconcile the sovereignty and legitimate interests of states in managing their borders with the rights of refugees and migrants under international and other relevant branches of law.Ìę

Dr. Matthew Bird, as the IDRC Research Chair for Peru, and Dr. Myriam Cherti, as the IDRC Research Chair for Morocco, reflected on the proposed approach and contextualized it within the Americas and North African region, respectively. While a whole-of-route approach is a step forward in the coordination of multilateral and multistakeholder responses to increased mixed flows towards the Global North, it also raises important questions from a Global South perspective. Difficulties in making distinctions between refugees and migrants are complicated further as they journey through migration routes, passing various states which categorize them differently – constantly changing their eligibility for protection. This highlights the continuing need to understand the root causes of migration and displacement. Further, in framing the routes-based approach, it is important to bridge the humanitarian perspective to the developmental perspective. Localized evidence needs to demonstrate the potential benefits of taking a more comprehensive approach and the capacity for absorption to a national development agenda – especially in middle income countries where there is a capacity for socioeconomic integration and responsible sharing.ÌęÌęÌę

While the routes-based approach is a step forward in ensuring international protection and respect of human rights, the frame of reference must include a context specific way of thinking in its implementation. By engaging context-specific and localized knowledge production, states along migration routes can develop more comprehensive support for refugees and migrants. Researchers hold a critical role in partnership with UNHCR and other policy makers for generating data to guide decisions.ÌęÌę

On March 27^th, 2025, a panel discussion titled “Gender, Geopolitics and Forced Displacement: Global South Perspectives” took place online. This fourth and final webinar of the series, hosted by the IDRC Research Chairs Network on Forced Displacement and supported by LERRN: The Local Engagement Refugee Research Network, featured Susan Martin, Donald G. Herzberg Professor Emerita of International Migration, and two IDRC Research Chairs, Paula Banjeree (Thailand) and Mary Setrana (Ghana). The speakers reflected on the relations between gender, geopolitics and future of gender in forced displacement policy discussion, specifically from the Global South perspectives.

Susan Martin, Donald G. Herzberg Professor Emerita of International Migration provided a brief overview of issues related to gender and displacement, mostly focusing on how the UN system has evolved to think about gender and displacement. Displacement is highly gendered and reflects class, education, economic status, among other factors. The UN has developed many policies on gender in the context of displacement with the aim of having on the ground improvements in the protection of refugee women. Her presentation also highlighted the importance of closing the gap between the rhetoric and reality of women’s participation and decision making.

Paula Banjeree, as the IDRC Research Chairs for Thailand, reflected on the geopolitical shifts in the 1990s during which borders mattered. Her presentation outlined the importance of engaging with the structural environment to engage with the depths in which powerful inequalities manifest themselves. She underscored the importance and expertise of women’s lived experience in policy development. Mary Setrana, as the IDRC Research Chair for Ghana, discussed externalisation policies at the global level. She emphasised the reality of most refugees are forcibly displaced rather than migrating for economic benefits. Her presentation specifies West Africa as having become a dumping ground for the externalisation of European refugee policies and border regime which has direct implications on how refugees and forcibly displaced persons, particularly women who make up the majority of these numbers, experiences their daily lives.

On February 13^th, 2025, a panel discussion titled “Global South Perspectives on Internally Displaced Persons” took place online. This event, hosted by the IDRC Research Chairs Network on Forced Migration and supported by LERRN: The Local Engagement Refugee Research Network, featured Paula Gaviria Betancur, UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons (IDPs), and four IDRC Research Chairs, Abebaw Minaye (Ethiopia), Hiram Angel (Mexico), Sawsan Abdulrahim (Beirut) and Houwayda Matta Bou Ramia (Lebanon). The speakers reflected on some of the work priorities, methods and challenges presented in the report, specifically in the current geo-political context, and ask,Ìęwhat has changed and what has stayed the same given changing global dynamics over the two years since the publication of the report.

Paula Gaviria Betancur, Ìęas the UN Special Rapporteur on the human rights IDPs, provided an overview of the Mandate of the Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons. She discussed the thematic priorities for her three-year term which included the following four areas: 1) climate change and internal displacement, 2) peace processes, 3) internal displacement from generalized violence and 4) integration and reintegration of IDPs. She also extended a call to join forces for stronger collaboration through supporting the mandate and making internal displacement more visible to prevent the human rights of IDPs and provide humanitarian and development assistance.

Abebaw Minaye, as the IDRC Research Chair for Ethiopia, reflected on the initiatives currently in Ethiopia and their importance for the country due to its large population of IDPs (4.2 million, not including returnees). While Ethiopia has good initiatives with the priority of preventing conflict and new displacements, certain challenges exist due to a lack of a clear mandate with a coordinating body. Future direction requires a genuine political dialogue for durable solutions, as well as a clearly spelled out mandate for internally displaced persons.

Hiram Angel, as the IDRC Research Chair for Mexico, presented on the research and activities focused on understanding internal displacement in Mexico. As of December 2021, there were around 380,000 of IDPs in Mexico between the years of 2006 and 2021. While there is variation about IDP populations being more frequent in rural or urban areas, these populations exist in both areas. The work of the Chair also explored the impact of natural disasters and organized crime (cartels) on internal forced displacement demonstrating that international forced displacement is not one directional; rather diverse motivations for displacement are overlayed.

Sawsan Abdulrahim, as the IDRC Research Chair for Beirut, reflected on the Report of the Special Rapporteur and focused on two main areas: 1) IDPs versus refugees and 2) political context in Gaza. Her presentation emphasised the importance of recognizing internal displacement on a spectrum of forced displacement. Climate change, for example, starts for internal displacement and over time, can become cross-border displacement. IDPs and refugees may come from similar places and experiences. Furthermore, she highlighted the blurred line between internal displacement, cross-border displacement, ethnic cleaning and war crimes happening in Gaza.

Houwayda Matta Bou Ramia, as the IDRC Research Chair for Lebanon, discussed the challenges and strategies related to reintegration of IDPs in Lebanon focusing on the importance of sustainable partnerships for addressing these challenges. She argued that the state’s limited capacity for reception and return combined with fragmented responses from armed groups and NGOs has resulted in lack of clear strategies for reintegration and long-term stability. Her presentation concluded with a question: where local governance systems face significant gaps, how can we implement sustainable solutions for long-term stability of internally displaced population?

Connection, solidarity, exchange and collaboration are crucial, including with those who themselves have experienced displacement. This sentiment is reflected in mandate of the IDRC Research Chairs Network as the Chairs conduct research committed to contributing to discourse and amplifying the perspectives of the Global South, where the vast majority of the world’s displace persons are found.

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On January 30, 2025, a panel discussion titled “Global South Perspectives on Climate Change and Displacement” took place online. This event is the second webinar hosted by the IDRC Research Chairs on Forced Migration and supported by LERRN: The Local Engagement Refugee Research Network. It featured Andrew Harper from UNHCR, Amal El Ouassif (Morocco), Desiree del Rosario (Dominican Republic), Opporutuna Kweka (Tanzania) and was moderated by Luisa Felina Freier (Peru). The discussion served as a reflection on the UN Climate Change Conference (COP29), convened in Baku in November 2024, in addressing the impact of climate change on dynamics of forced displacement. In addition to focusing on supporting Global South to protect their people and economies against climate disasters and sharing the benefits of the clean energy boom, an objective of COP29 was to affirm the benefits of inclusive approaches that ensure the meaningful participation of highly vulnerable people from the climate frontlines. Given the limited progressed witnessed at COP29, the webinar asked if and how new forms of localized knowledge on the relationship between climate change and displacement can support innovative thinking on better responses.Ìę

Andrew Harper, as Special Advisor on Climate Action to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), opened the conversation with a presentation on climate change as a vulnerability multiplier, driving displacement and protection needs around the world. The relationship between climate change and displacement is not simple, but rather it requires us to consider the interlapping drivers of vulnerability which include, climate change, conflict and violence, water resources, demographics, food insecurity, migration and displacement and other moderating factors. Populations being affected must be included not only in the participation of research, but more importantly, in the decision making of policies.ÌęÌę

The IDRC Research Chairs panelists reflected on COP29 and showcased the results of research from different regional contexts, highlighting the importance of localized knowledge and its inclusion in policy discussions. Prof. Opportuna Kweka as the IDRC Research Chair for Tanzania, outlined some of the local work that she and her research team have produced in Tanzania with nomadic pastoralists. Dr. Desiree del Rosario, as the IDRC Research Chair for the Dominican Republic, provided her reflections on COP29 from a Caribbean island context. There are inconsistencies between practice and discourse on how the commitment and perspective of small island states is assumed on the Island of Santo Domingo and in the Dominican Republic. Some of the work conducted by the Research Chair has looked at how women and girls continue to experience disadvantages. The elements that draw attention have to do with the absence of timely and effective responses from public policies and institutions. Dr. Amal El Ouassif, as the IDRC Research Chair for Morocco, reflected on the Migration and Climate Loss Fund COP29 highlighted how the lack of adequate financial commitments would have serious impacts for countries at the frontline of climate migration who will struggle to implement sustainable adaptation and resilience measures. Within the context of Morocco, current policies remain insufficient to address the complexity of migration as both an adaptive strategy and a forced displacement dynamic. In policy spaces, it is key to take a constructivist perspective as migration should not only be seen as a crisis but as a part of a broader climate resilience strategy.ÌęÌę

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In 2024, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on Solutions to Internal Displacement will wrap up the work on this issue begun by his High-Level Panel in 2020 and continued under his Action Agenda. These processes reflect a longstanding preoccupation that, despite decades of efforts including the 1998 UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and the humanitarian reform, the acute needs of many internally displaced persons (IDPs) remain unmet and, globally, long-term solutions to their situation appear elusive.

This conference provides a forum for researchers, practitioners, policy-makers and students from all disciplines to come together to present, debate and reflect on ‘solutions’ to internal displacement and their future. It offered the chance to develop new research agendas and collaborations. Alongside keynote presentations, it hosted ‘thematic’ and ‘open’ panel sessions to share research and analysis from academia and from policy/practice.

IDRC Research Chairs, Dr. Nyi Nyi kyaw, Dr. Abebaw Minaye, and Dr. Fouad M Fouad, presented at the “Not All IDPs are the Same: Working towards Different ‘Solutions’ for Different IDPs” thematic panel sessions.

Not All Myanmar IDPs (2011-) Are the Same

Speaker: Dr. Nyi Nyi Kyaw (IDRC Research Chair, Chiang Mai University, Thailand)

This paper will discuss three different waves of internal displacement of more than 2 million in Myanmar from 2011 until late 2023 and highlight that ethnic conflict, religious conflict, and political conflict have resulted in those waves. It will then argue that different solutions are required and must be tailed to help solve the three waves.

Seeking Solutions to Unprecedented Internal Displacement in Ethiopia

Speaker: Dr. Abebaw Minaye (IDRC Research Chair, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia)

The multidimensional plights of close to 4 million IDPs in Ethiopia have taken a back seat in the policy debates in the country. Ethiopia has not adopted adequate legal and institutional frameworks for the protection of IDPs (Djigisa, 2019). Neither does the international community pay sufficient attention to the problem. Ethiopia lacks a comprehensive dedicated framework to ameliorate the plight of IDPs. One of the most relevant provisions was the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) policy of 2013 with its associated Strategic Programme (Habte & Kweon, 2018). Though Ethiopia has ratified the Kampala Convention, there is neither a legal nor policy framework that gives domestic effect to the Convention. Though Ethiopia has recently joined the UN’s Durable Solutions Initiative (2019), existing normative frameworks do not comprehensively respond to the specific needs of IDPs (Dagne, 2021), and transitional, developmental and durable solutions are not being implemented properly. Sometimes pushes by the government for IDPs’ return to their original environments that remain violent do more harm than help. In some cases, IDPs are experiencing emotional statelessness. Focus is often much more on charity, where the private sector is required to give alms, than on creation of business and entrepreneurial activities that benefit and empower IDPs. I want to discuss the following possible solutions. First, engagement and representation of IDPs in community-based organizations to help them articulate their concerns and possible mitigation strategies. Second, government should better cooperate with host communities by aligning support to IDPs with local development endeavours than pressuring IDPs to return. Third, addressing systemic threats for example by respecting the rights of ethnic minorities in ethnic majority regions and revising federal and regional constitutions. Fourth, embracing a whole-of-government approach that engages various sectoral government offices with better coordination mechanism so that no one will be left behind.

ÌęIDPs in Northwest Syria – How to Address Need in Non-State Entity

Speaker: Dr. Fouad M Fouad (IDRC Research Chair, American University of Beirut, Lebanon)

Syria has the highest number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in the world, with 6.7 million people being forced from their homes since the uprising began in 2011. Women and children constitute at least two-thirds of those who are displaced. The IDPs are unevenly distributed across the four primary territories controlled by various conflict parties, with only one being under government control. Each of these territories has evolved differently, with different leadership and governance structures, financing, and priorities. I will argue that the 2.5 million IDPs who crossed the power borders (but not the international borders) to northwest Syria, which is governed by non-state groups, require a different solution to address their needs when compared to IDPs who moved within territories controlled by the government.

View the conference programme for a full list of panel sessions, keynote speakers, and hosts:

Hosted by the Centre on Gender and Forced Displacement (CGFD) at the , the conference featured four panels with active participation from IDRC Research Chairs.

Taking feminist perspectives on war, conflicts, displacements, migration, and peace, the three-fold objectives of the conference are

1. To Investigate the gendered assumptions/stereotypes in the study of forced migration, displacements, international relations, and national and foreign policy making, including their explicit geopolitical and biopolitical reasoning and how political spatialization renders women and vulnerable groups even more vulnerable.
2. To examine the implications of militarized notions of territorial citizenship, using the masculinist ideas of power, space, and security and feminine representations of peace, security, and victimhood.
3. To explore how the practical everyday implications of geopolitics and biopolitics and their intersectionalities impact the causes and consequences of displacements.

Panel One: Gender, Geopolitics, and Internal Displacements

Chair: Professor Paula Banerjee (IDRC Research Chair, Director of CGFD, AIT)

1. IDP’s in Myanmar
   Speaker: Dr. Nyi Nyi Kyaw (IDRC Research Chair for Chiang Mai University, Thailand)
2. Spatial Confinement and Displacement: The Bedouins (Badu) of the Negev (Naqab)
   Speaker: Dr. Priya Singh (Post Doctoral Researcher, CFGD, AIT, Thailand)
3. IDP’s and Climate Change
   Speaker: Mr. Bradley Mellicker (Senior Regional Emergency Post Crisis Specialist, Regional Office for Asia Pacific, International Organization for Migration)

Panel Two: Gendered Vulnerabilities under the Rubrics of Citizenship and Statelessness

Chair: Professor Geraldine Forbes (Professor, State University of New York Oswego, USA)

1. LTBTQ Community in Lebanon
   Speaker: Dr. Houwayda Matta Ramia (IDRC Research Chair, St. Joshep University, Lebanon)
2. Women in 1971 Conflict
   Speaker: Dr. Purna Banerjee (Associate Professor, Presidency University, Kolkata, India)
3. Biometric Data, Identity and Refugee Protection: the Case of Rohingya Camp in Bangladesh
   Speaker: Professor Nasreen Chowdhory (Professor, Department of Political Science, Delhi University)

Panel Three: Gender, Biopolitics and Displacements

Chair: Professor Lydia Potts (Coordinator, European Masters in Migration and Intercultural Relations, Carl Von Ossietzky University, Germany)

1. “The Complex Nexus of Geopolitics and Biopolitics on the Health and Well-Being of the Displaced: Evidence from Rohingya Refugees in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh”
   Speaker: Dr. Monira Ahsan (Postdoctoral Researcher, CGFD, AIT, Thailand)
2. “Security of the Rohingya Refugees among Thai Muslims”
   Speaker: Dr. Amporn Marddent (Assistant Professor, Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology, Thammasat University)

Panel Four: Geopolitics and Biopolitics: Everyday Experiences of the Displaced

Chair: Dr. Mike Hayes (Lecturer, the Institute for Human Rights and Peace Studies, Mahidol University)

1. “The ‘abandoned’ Identities and Realities of being a Migrant Worker: The Case of the Bangladeshi Women Domestic Migrants in Asia”
   Speaker: Dr. Poonam Sharma (International Center for Cultural Studies, NYCU, Taiwan)
2. “The Compounded Victimization of Women in Assam’s NRC Process – A Geopolitical Analysis”
   Speaker: Ms. Shuma Talukder (Corporate Lawyer and Corporate Governance Professional and Director of LexED Research, Kolkata, India)
3. “Gendering Salaita: Dissent in American Academia in the Era of Zionism”
   Speaker: Dr. Debojoy Chanda (Assistant Professor, Department of English, Panskura, Banamali College, India)
4. “Brothels and its relationship with geopolitics: A case study on Migrant women in Kolkata”
   Speaker: Dr. Sangbida Lahiri (Assistant Professor, JK Lakshmipat University, India)

View the conference agenda for a full list of panel topics, keynote addresses, lectures, and speakers:

Time:ÌęTime: 9:000AM—11:00AM

Location: AAU Registrar RN 304

The Research Chair for Forced Displacement and Migration Studies at AAU, Abebaw Minaye, hosted at the College of Education and behavioral Studies, invites all interested to attend its second Monthly public lecture series for the year. The lecture will be held on 04 Jan 2024 on Displacement Economies and Livelihoods.

Speakers

Fekadu Adugna

Dr. Fekadu Adugna is Associate Professor of social anthropology at AAU. He has published several studies in peer reviewed journals on forced displacement and migration issues. Dr. Fekadu has led several multicountry research projects funded by EU’s Horizon and UK Global Challenge Research Fund. He is the member of the Research chair and will speak on Displacement Economy.

Pierre Jaubert

Pierre Jaubert is Programme Manager in Better Migration Management-Horn of Africa, GIZ. He has Master’s Degree in international and humanitarian law. As a practitioner, Jaubert has long years of experience in the management of forced displacement in Africa. He will speak on access to livelihood/employment/education for migrants and forcibly displaced people.

Biruk Amha

Biruk Amha, Program Component Manager at GIZ-QEP, will join Jaubert to speak on the same issue. Biruk has MEd in Curriculum and Instruction. He is working for GIZ with the responsibility to manage refugee and host community education and training for self reliance in collaboration with public TVET colleges and companies.A

Last week, it was my privilege to accompany the twelve IDRC Research Chairs on Forced Displacement to the 2023 Global Refugee Forum (GRF) in Geneva. Organized by UNHCR, the goal of the GRF is to get member states to make pledges to help refugees, both within their countries and abroad. In the past, the role of refugees, displaced persons, stateless persons, academics, non-governmental organizations, and others has been very much relegated to second place compared to states, who UNHCR correctly sees as the key to improving global refugee policy. Governments, however, are not very good at coming up with new ideas on their own, and often lack the knowledge and expertise to formulate better policy. In short, an event like the GRF needs to move beyond statements by member states to highlight fresh ideas and perspectives.

This year, UNHCR has clearly recognized this need, bringing hundreds of persons with lived experience to the event and giving them speaking roles, alongside making space for the vital insights and expertise of academia, NGOs and others. The IDRC Research Chairs, however, brought something unique: an academic perspective from the Global South, with a focus on evidence-based research and policy solutions that is often lacking within the NGO and activist communities, and a voice from the regions and countries most affected by displacement, which is often missing from academia. It was this unique combination of authenticity and rigor that really highlighted the power of localized academic networks like the IDRC Research Chairs Network on Forced Displacement

Some highlights included interim Morocco Chair Amal El Ouassif introducing the Chairs Network to outgoing Assistant High Commissioner for Protection Gillian Triggs and explaining what South-South academic research and networking can mean to our collective understanding of forced displacement, as well as how it can be used as tool by UNHCR to find innovative and evidence-based durable solutions, something that is lacking in today’s policy debates. Chair Paula Banerjee met with the UNHCR Statelessness Unit to discuss next steps for the emerging Global Alliance on statelessness, and Chair Nyi Nyi Kyaw moderated an event at the Refugee Impact Hub, on Collaborating with academic partners to advance refugee-led advocacy: Tips, tricks and networks.

Tanzania Chair Opportuna Kweka made an intervention at Academic Workshop on Evidence-based implementation of the GCR: What role for academia?, moderated by IDRC Research Chairs Abebaw Minaye and Luisa Feline Freier, where she discussed the impact that localization can have on the legitimacy and rigor of field research on forced displacement. The workshop allowed for a conversation between the IDRC Research Chairs and the UNHCR de Mello Chairs, along with other academics based in the Global South, providing a unique opportunity for South-South academic exchange.

Thailand Chair Paula Banerjee gave remarks at the High-Level Side Event “Shifting Power,” at which IDRC President Julie Delahanty also spoke. This event, co-organized by the governments of Brazil and Canada, provided a unique forum for Professor Banerjee discussed the need for franker and more open acknowledgement of the role of racism and discrimination in driving forced displacement, and the need to adopt a truly gender transformative lens at every level of research and policy.
Other highlights included Lebanon Chair Fouad M. Fouad speaking at the High-level side event: Middle East and North Africa Solutions, and Chairs Hiram Angel and Opportuna Kweka intervening in two other side events on climate action and localization. Dr. Angel read the Chairs’ Call to Action on Climate Displacement to the room of diplomats and affected persons.

Finally, taking advantage of being able to meet in person, the Chairs had a three-hour brainstorming session, planning for the next phase of the Network, which will include innovative and unique collaborative research. With the Chairs Network stilly in its first year, it was truly amazing to see the impact already felt at the global level, and I know that many actors are looking forward to what the Chairs will accomplish in the next five years, and what an impact they will make at the next GRF.