°Őłó±đÌęJournal on Migration and Human Security (JMHS) requests papers for a special collection on solutions to protracted refugee crises. The papers should provide extensive background on one or more protracted refugee population and describe the degree to which these populations have been able to avail themselves of traditional durable solutions; i.e., safe and voluntary return to their home communities, local integration, and third-country resettlement. The papers should also outline promising complementary approaches to the need for secure, permanent homes, such as expanded refugee mobility and legal migration options, privately sponsored resettlement, refugee self-reliance initiatives, and faith-based programs.

JMHS would welcome papers authored by researchers with refugee backgrounds, or co-authored by researchers and refugees or other forced migrants. These papers should include all the elements and be written in the style of JMHS papers, as set forth in the journal’s submission guidelines at .

Potential authors should submit abstracts of their proposed paper (600 words or less) to the co-editors, Elizabeth Ferris (Elizabeth.Ferris@Georgetown.edu) and Donald Kerwin (DKerwin@cmsny.org) by April 1, 2022.  The co-editors will invite full submissions of eight to ten papers based on: (1) their proposed coverage of one or more protracted refugee situation; (2) the need to cover diverse populations and geographies; and (3) the authors’ knowledge of complementary and alternative solutions to protracted refugee crises.  Papers will be due July 1, 2022.

The request for papers also welcomes shorter commentaries (no longer than 2,500 words) from refugee-led organizations and communities on their experiences in protracted refugee situations, their advocacy and operational priorities in support of permanent solutions, and the ways they have organized their efforts. The co-editors hope to collect and combine these commentaries into a single paper that will part of the special collection.

°Őłó±đÌęJournal on Migration and Human Security is a peer reviewed, public policy journal on international migration. It has a strong record of publishing work on forced migration, including special editions on strengthening the system and programs. Please make any inquiries regarding this special JMHS collection to the co-editors.

Event details and recordings available here.

Detalles del evento y interpretación en español se pueden encontrar aquí.

DĂ©tails de l’Ă©vĂ©nement et interprĂ©tation en français sont disponibles ici.

On 21 January 2021, the (LERRN) and the (IDRC) co-hosted the second webinar panel for the North American component of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ (UNHCR) virtual conference: , commemorating the 70^th anniversary of the UNHCR. It focused on the role of North American states within the global refugee regime: the international institutions and structures set up to respond to refugee issues around the world. A total of 249 viewers tuned in to the panels from 18 countries, spanning from North and South America to as far as Europe and East Africa. The second panel featured distinguished speakers: the Honourable Ambassador Bob Rae, Mustafa Alio, Jennifer Bond, Elizabeth Ferris, Ana Macouzet and Leah Zamore. It was co-moderated by James Milner, Project Director of LERRN, and Julie Crowley, IDRC’s Regional Director for Central and West Africa.

Each of the panelists reflected on important issues about power relations and political contexts, which significantly impact how the refugee regime is able to respond to refugees. The panelists considered how North American states (Canada, the US, and Mexico) can work with other actors to think about important questions and challenges facing the refugee regime today. Some of these actors include refugee representatives, the private sector, academics, NGOs, and local or regional governments. The panel considered a variety of bold questions: how to promote refugee inclusion and leadership, how to respond to displacement caused by climate change, and how to address gaps in protecting people displaced within their own countries (IDPs). The panelists proposed innovative ideas that link humanitarian assistance, international development, and peacebuilding.

A key recommendation was the need to address the root causes of forced displacement, particularly the political factors that are at the heart of conflict and longstanding refugee crises. The Honourable Bob Rae, Canada’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, remarked that “no matter how much money we give to UNHCR, there is no humanitarian solution to the humanitarian crises we see around the world.” Instead, the causes of displacement are political, environmental, and economic. Panelists urged the actors in the regime to have the courage to tackle these underlying crises causing displacement through the UN system and beyond.

Acknowledging that refugee situations are increasingly long-term rather than short-term emergencies, the panel emphasized the need to prioritize refugee voices, experiences, and leadership. Ambassador Bob Rae stressed that “being a refugee and being stateless should not mean you are voiceless or that you are not heard.” The Ambassador argued that humanitarian assistance needs to be paired with opportunities for work and education. Otherwise, “we are treating people as objects, not as subjects.” Mustafa Alio, who made history as the first Refugee Advisor in the Canadian delegation at an international refugee meeting, highlighted that “UNHCR needs to transition from merely consulting with refugees to an equal partnership with refugees in creating solutions.” With dwindling resources for humanitarian assistance due to donor fatigue and a higher number of displaced people, the refugee regime needs to find better ways to use limited resources. Alio argued that an important lesson learned from the COVID-19 pandemic is that refugee-led organizations are valuable partners in delivering cost-effective humanitarian assistance. They also provide a unique perspective informed by the experiences of those directly affected by displacement.

In addition to refugee-led organizations, community organizations like sponsorship groups have been important in providing solutions for refugees beyond the actions of governments. Professor Jennifer Bond, who leads the University of Ottawa Refugee Hub and the Global Refugee Sponsorship Initiative, highlighted the importance of rebuilding public support for refugee protection. Community sponsorship allows citizens to get involved directly with refugee protection and to become advocates for welcoming policies. UNHCR’s attention to public support is crucial to counter negative portrayals of refugees. Indeed, as Julie Crowley pointed out, one of the major issues is “the growing negative and toxic narrative about refugees and the forcibly displaced. A lot needs to be done to counter misinformation and break down the unfounded myths about these vulnerable populations. Again, this should only be done in partnership with refugees and refugee communities.”

On the subject of protection, Professor Beth Ferris drew attention to groups of displaced people who currently do not benefit from refugee status and as a result are outside of the global refugee system. That includes Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and those displaced by environmental and climate-related factors. UNHCR should expand efforts to examine gaps, develop inclusive strategies, and engage development actors so that individuals who do not qualify for refugee status may still be supported. Ana Macouzet, Senior Policy Advisor at Open Society Foundations (OSF), emphasized the importance of promoting regional cooperation between Canada, the United States, and Mexico. She called current approaches to migration management in the region ineffective and inhumane. Working together, these countries can discuss common interests related to migration and strengthen refugee protection across the region.

Leah Zamore, Director of the Humanitarian Crises program at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation (CIC), provided a valuable lesson from history on how the U.S.-funded Marshall Plan helped rebuild Europe after World War II. According to Zamore, “this sort of economic vision that went behind the Marshall Plan” is needed today to assist major refugee-hosting countries. Zamore proposed that North American countries could leverage their participation in international financial institutions to support refugee-hosting countries by offering debt relief or financial stimulus packages.

The speakers agreed that while the COVID-19 pandemic has been catastrophic, it provides a unique opportunity to learn from North America’s history and reflect on opportunities going forward. Through US funding for UNHCR, resettlement and community sponsorships, participation in the UNHCR’s governance structure, and recognition of gender-based persecution, North America has played a critical role beyond the North American region. The resounding conclusion was that there is no better time than the present to begin casting a vision for refugee protection in the coming years. Following President Joe Biden’s inauguration, there is a new opportunity to incorporate international displacement issues in post-pandemic recovery plans. Recognizing that 85% of the world’s refugees are hosted in the Global South, North America can support and engage with host countries in the Global South as partners. Through bold ideas and creative thinking, UNHCR can seize the opportunity of the current moment to work with governments, civil society actors, and refugees to improve responses to displacement.

This report was prepared by Rawan Youssef, LERRN Social Media & Communications Officer, with assistance from Sohaila Khaliqyar, LERRN Project Communications and Social Media Coordinator, and Rachel McNally, LERRN Knowledge Mobilization and Translation Officer.

These panels and the LERRN-IDRC Webinar Series on Forced Displacement are coordinated by Jennifer Kandjii, LERRN Research Officer. For further information or ideas please contact us here.

To read the report on Panel 1, “Realizing protection and solutions within North America,” click here.

]]> /lerrn/2020/refugees-and-covid-19-more-than-a-health-issue/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=refugees-and-covid-19-more-than-a-health-issue Thu, 30 Apr 2020 20:36:21 +0000 /lerrn/?p=1462 By Dr. Elizabeth Ferris, Georgetown University

Hundreds, maybe thousands, of articles and reports have appeared recently, analyzing the potential for the COVID-19 virus to wreak havoc among refugees living in crowded conditions with inadequate sanitation and limited access to health care. , for example, traces in painful detail the many risk factors which refugees face while the highlights the weaknesses of  health systems and outlines the steps it is taking to stay and deliver aid to refugees in the midst of the pandemic.

The potential for the virus to spread rapidly among refugees and to produce high casualties is real and terrifying. But what I worry about most are those 80% of the world’s refugees who don’t live in  but are eking out an existence by working in the informal sector and who have now lost their livelihoods because of the pandemic.

In this morning’s twitter feed, I came across a brief mention of a recent by the Danish Refugee Council in Jordan in which only 3% of Syrian refugee households reported that they currently have an employed family member (down from 65% before COVID-19). Almost 80% said that they don’t have access to sufficient food for the next 3 weeks.

We don’t have this kind of information about refugees everywhere, but as have found, most of the world’s refugees do not have access to the formal labor market in their countries of refuge. Although some are able to access assistance, most of the world’s refugees are likely ‘getting by’ through poorly paid and ad hoc work in the informal sector. While you don’t often think of those living in refugee camps as being privileged, when it comes to aid – and to access to medical care, for that matter – they may be the lucky ones.

What happens to these refugees when they lose their livelihoods? When they can’t work in the informal sector, whether as sidewalk vendors or day labourers in construction or domestic workers? When shut-down orders and curfews are enforced, these are people who can’t work from home and who don’t even have formal employers. Nor do they have the same social safety nets – inadequate as they may be – as citizens in their host country.  We know that UNHCR is working hard to raise funds to support refugees during this crisis, but UNHCR simply can’t replace the refugees’ lost income.

I’m convinced that we need to shift paradigms away from providing aid to refugees to supporting their right to access the formal labor market in their countries of refuge. And when that access isn’t forthcoming, we need to focus on supporting refugees’ efforts to become self-reliant. In this respect, , the and many other organizations have formed a community of practice around the concept of self-reliance. Promoting self-reliance isn’t easy – particularly when refugees aren’t allowed to work and have to work under the radar. Success so far has been modest as reports on Refuge Point’s efforts to help 3000 refugees in Nairobi to become self-reliant.

Make no mistake, advocating for self-reliance is a pragmatic solution. At best it is a halfway house, a partial solution for refugees that falls far short of the gold standard of citizenship through local integration or return ‘in safety and dignity’ to their homes. Even the most successful cases of self-reliant refugees live awfully close to the edge – one broken leg or one tropical storm can push them into poverty. The focus on self-reliance has been criticized for being in its orientation and as an excuse for donors to cut their assistance, though this critique has largely focused on refugees in camps and sweeping reductions in assistance that affect large groups indiscriminately, rather than the individual aspirations of urban refugees.

Advocating for refugee self-reliance has a long and not very successful . It is far from a panacea. It is an imperfect, incomplete way of assisting refugees to get by when the right answer would be for the international community to step up and find truly lasting and honourable solutions.  But as interest wanes and refugees lose even their tenuous informal jobs in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, promoting and supporting self-reliance of refugees seems like a pragmatic alternative which can help people survive in these tough times.

Dr. Elizabeth Ferris is a Research Professor with the Institute for the Study of International Migration at Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service. She has written extensively on refugee, migration and humanitarian issues, including The Politics of Protection: The Limits of Humanitarian Action (Brookings Institution Press, 2011), and most recently Refugees, Migration and Global Governance: Negotiating the Global Compacts with Katharine Donato (Routledge 2019).