The Global Refugee Crisis: Regional Destabilization & Humanitarian Protection

Daedalus ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 146 (4) ◽  
pp. 85-97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Kenyon Lischer
Keyword(s):  
Civil Wars ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Displaced Populations ◽  
State Security ◽  
Refugee Protection ◽  
Syrian Refugee Crisis

In addition to being a tragic output of civil war, large-scale displacement crises often become enmeshed in the politics, security, and economics of the conflict. Refugee and internally displaced populations thus exacerbate concerns about regional destabilization. The Syrian refugee crisis, for example, is deeply entwined with civil and international conflict. Neighboring host states of Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon bear the brunt of the crisis, while European states seek to prevent further encroachment by Middle Eastern asylum seekers. Policy-makers often mistakenly view host state security and refugee security as unrelated–or even opposing–factors. In reality, refugee protection and state stability are linked together; undermining one factor weakens the other. Policies to protect refugees, both physically and legally, reduce potential threats from the crisis and bolster state security. In general, risks of conflict are higher when refugees live in oppressive settings, lack legal income-generation options, and are denied education for their youth. The dangers related to the global refugee crisis interact with many other threats that emanate from civil wars and weak states, such as fragile governments, rebel and terrorist group activity, and religious or ethnic fragmentation.

The Syrian Refugee Crisis in the Middle East

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shaden Khallaf
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Syrian Refugee ◽  
Refugee Protection ◽  
International Response ◽  
Regional Dynamics ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
Syrian Refugee Crisis ◽  
Transformational Development

This chapter examines the response of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to the Syrian refugee crisis in the Middle East. The Syrian displacement crisis that began in 2011 has been a humanitarian catastrophe unfolding during one of the most tumultuous and complex times in contemporary Middle Eastern history. The Syria crisis has been a transformational development, a “game-changer,” on a number of levels, including the impact on local and regional dynamics, the scope and nature of the international response, and the challenges to the global refugee protection regime it has triggered. This chapter first provides an overview of the complex displacement patterns involving Syrian refugees before discussing the international community's response to the crisis. It also considers the policy challenges arising from the Syrian displacement crisis and suggests that a qualitative and quantitative shift in approach to dealing with displacement in the region seems to herald the way forward, with a pressing need for innovative outlooks and meaningful partnerships that give primacy to refugees' own perspectives.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Gatrell
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Civil Wars ◽  
Major Part ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
The World ◽  
John Berger ◽  
Involuntary Displacement ◽  
Different Parts

The English writer and critic John Berger regarded the twentieth century as ‘the century of departure, of migration, of exodus, of disappearance: the century of people helplessly seeing others, who were close to them, disappear over the horizon’.1 Berger’s characterisation of ‘helplessness’ invites us to consider not only how people were rendered liable to sudden and involuntary displacement, but also how those processes were represented at the time and subsequently. Global conflicts, revolutions and civil wars have played a major part in these processes of movement and loss, exposing combatants and non-combatants to personal risk. Civilians have frequently been the chief actors in the dramas of ‘departure’ and ‘disappearance’. Massive displacement has not necessarily entailed movement across state borders, although it is only relatively recently that policy-makers have taken into account the large numbers of internally displaced persons in different parts of the world....

The Future of Refugee Flows and Policies

1992 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 1112-1143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rosemarie Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Forced Migration ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Policy Issues ◽  
Displaced Populations ◽  
International Environment ◽  
Willingness To Intervene ◽  
International Climate

The number of forced migrants—recognized refugees, persons in “refugeelike” situations, and internally displaced—is estimated today to exceed 40 million. The changed international climate of the 1990s (a renewed emphasis on human rights; broader concepts of national security; and the profound political changes in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union) has shifted the focus from the asylum and resettlement countries to the countries of origin: there is today a greater willingness to intervene in other countries’ affairs either to avert the creation of new flows of focused migrants or to assist internally displaced populations, and there is the expectation of large-scale voluntary returns of refugees in asylum. This article discusses these and other policy issues concerning forced migration in this new international environment.

scholarly journals Syrian Refugee Crisis and European Migration Policies: Rise in Xenophobic Rhetoric in Europe

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Meltem Dirsehan
Keyword(s):  
Transition Point ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Humanitarian Crisis ◽  
European Values ◽  
Main Transition ◽  
Syrian Refugee Crisis ◽  
European Migration

Syrian immigration crisis has been ignored by advanced European countries and the heaviest burden is left to developing border countries. However this ignorance has resulted in more mass influx of immigrants illegally to the borders of European Union with a target of advanced Northern countries. To evaluate the European ignorance to this humanitarian crisis, first Turkey is evaluated as a transition point for all Asian and Middle Eastern immigrants dreaming to live in Europe. By a shocking extend of sea arrivals, Europe have noticed the humanitarian crisis and made a deal with main transition point for immigrants, Turkey. However this deal is a symbol of violation human rights and vaporisation of all European values. So refugee crisis and policy changes in Europe are covered briefly. In conclusion, this position of European countries is argued as related with accelerating social support to xenophobic and Islamophobic rhetoric in politics as to elective results in advanced EU countries.

scholarly journals The Syrian Refugee Crisis and the Role of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)

2019 ◽  
pp. 697-706
Author(s):  
Zahid Shahab Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Muslim World ◽  
Syrian Refugees ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Syrian Refugee ◽  
Continuous Support ◽  
Syrian Refugee Crisis ◽  
The Arab Spring

Following the Arab Spring, the Middle East is in chaos with ongoing wars in Yemen and Syria. There are millions of Syrians seeking refuge in neighboring countries like Turkey and Lebanon, and in European countries like Greece, Hungary, and Germany. Nonetheless, the largest proportion of Syrian refugees in hosted by neighboring countries needing continuous support of the international community. As the issue of Syrian refugees is transnational, there is a need to look for multilateral options for dealing with the crisis. Thus, the role of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) becomes crucial. Irrespective of being labelled as a ‘talk fest', there is no denying of the fact that OIC has significant potential for tackling grave challenges facing the Muslim world. The problems range from extremism and radicalization to poverty and illiteracy. Now there is the emergent challenge of refugees from the Middle Eastern crisis. This paper evaluates the role of OIC with reference to the Syrian refugee crisis in the Middle East and beyond.

scholarly journals Mapping differential vulnerabilities and rights: ‘opening’ access to social protection for forcibly displaced populations

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel Sabates-Wheeler
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Population Movements ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Global Trends ◽  
Displaced Populations ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
Scale Population ◽  
Displaced People ◽  
Institutional Capability

Abstract In recent years, forcibly displaced populations have attracted enormous media attention as an increasing number of disasters and political conflicts push more and more people to move away from their homes and seek refuge and opportunities in other places. At the same time, political nervousness about the financial and institutional capability of ‘receiving’ locations to adequately respond to the needs of these large-scale population movements contributes to the shrinking space for thinking about the rights and needs of people on the move. It is precisely because of these global trends that the plight of forcibly displaced populations is becoming more precarious and vulnerable, yet standard social protection provision rarely attends to the plight of these people. The purpose of this paper is to elaborate the remit and implications for including a consideration of forcibly displaced populations (including internally displaced people, refugees and asylum seekers) within social protection policy and programming. Drawing on a limited number of recent initiatives, we suggest some ways in which social protection can be ‘opened’ for these groups.

scholarly journals Collectivized Discretion: Seeking Explanations for Decreased Asylum Recognition Rates in Finland After Europe's 2015 “Refugee Crisis”

2021 ◽  
pp. 019791832110440
Author(s):  
Johanna Vanto ◽  
Elsa Saarikkomäki ◽  
Anne Alvesalo-Kuusi ◽  
Nea Lepinkäinen ◽  
Elina Pirjatanniemi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Individual Decision ◽  
Immigration Control ◽  
Refugee Protection ◽  
Asylum Law ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
Individual Assessment ◽  
The Individual

In 2015, during the so-called “refugee crisis” in Europe, Finland was among the European countries receiving exceptionally large numbers of asylum applications. As the volume of asylum applications surged, however, the percentage of positive asylum decisions in Finland declined substantially. In this article, we explore reasons for this dramatic drop in recognitions rates and examine Finnish immigration control authorities’ use of discretion in asylum credibility assessment. Our approach is unique in its application of mixed methods to examine asylum decisions in pre- and post-crisis situations. We found that asylum caseworkers’ inconsistent assessment of similar facts and lack of faith in the veracity of applicants’ claims were essential to the mass denial of young Iraqi asylum applicants in Finland. This finding is important because it illustrates how asylum officers are able to “shift the border,” or generate a shift in asylum decision-making on a grand scale, without meaningful changes in law. Asylum officers, we show, are able to bring about such a shift via what we call collectivized discretion, or large-scale use of discretion, in asylum status determinations to control migration. Prior research on discretion in asylum decision-making highlights the individual decision-maker. This article expands discretion research by offering new insights on large-scale, collective discretionary shifts in the application of asylum law. We conclude that it is crucial that asylum status determinations be anchored in the individual assessment of each applicant's case, as collectivized discretion can lead to arbitrary results in the application of asylum law, potentially forcing those in need of refugee protection to face deportation.

scholarly journals Rethinking media responsibility in the refugee ‘crisis’: a visual typology of European news

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (8) ◽  
pp. 1162-1177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lilie Chouliaraki ◽  
Tijana Stolic
Keyword(s):  
Moral Responsibility ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
State Security ◽  
Syrian Refugee ◽  
Syrian Refugee Crisis ◽  
Media Responsibility ◽  
Empirical Material

In this paper, we analyse how news images of the 2015 Syrian refugee ‘crisis’ visualise refugees and how, in so doing, they mobilise various forms of moral responsibility in ‘our’ mediated public life – various practical dispositions of action towards the misfortunes of migrants and refugees at Europe’s border. On the basis of empirical material from European news (June-December 2015), we construct a typology of visibilities of the ‘crisis’, each of which situates refugees within a different regime of visibility and claim to action: i) visibility as biological life, associated with monitorial action; ii) visibility as empathy associated with charitable action; iii) visibility as threat, associated with state security; iv) visibility as hospitality, associated with political activism; and v) visibility as self-reflexivity, associated with a post-humanitarian engagement with people like ‘us’. In conclusion, we argue that, important as these five categories of visibility are in introducing public dispositions to action towards the vulnerable, they nonetheless ultimately fail to humanise migrants and refugees. This failure to portray them as human beings with lives that are worth sharing should compel us, we urge, to radically re-think how we understand the media’s responsibility towards vulnerable others.

Welcome or Not: Comparing #Refugee Posts on Instagram and Pinterest

2018 ◽  
Vol 62 (4) ◽  
pp. 512-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanine P. D. Guidry ◽  
Lucinda L. Austin ◽  
Kellie E. Carlyle ◽  
Karen Freberg ◽  
Michael Cacciatore ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Random Sample ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Quantitative Content Analysis ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Quantitative Content ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Syrian Refugee Crisis ◽  
Security Concern

The Syrian refugee crisis, started in 2011, has resulted in millions of Syrians fleeing their homes: 6.6 million have been internally displaced and more than 4.6 million have fled the country. This flow of refugees has led to both humanitarian efforts to assist refugees and growing views of refugees as a threat to receiving countries’ security and autonomy. Sentiments about the still-growing crisis are increasingly expressed on social media platforms, including visual ones like Instagram and Pinterest. However, little is known about what and how information about refugees is presented on these platforms. The current study addresses this gap by conducting a quantitative content analysis of a random sample of 750 Instagram posts and 750 Pinterest posts to evaluate and compare visual and textual messaging surrounding this crisis. Results show that Pinterest messages more frequently depict security-concern sentiment and include more unique visual components than Instagram. Across platforms, security-concern posts were more likely to be framed thematically; whereas most humanitarian-concern posts were framed episodically. The study concludes with a discussion of implications for communication scholars and practitioners that may inform the development of visual-based social-mediated messaging.

scholarly journals The Syrian Refugee Crisis and the Role of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC)

2017 ◽  
pp. 115-126
Author(s):  
Zahid Shahab Ahmed
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Muslim World ◽  
Syrian Refugees ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Syrian Refugee ◽  
Continuous Support ◽  
Syrian Refugee Crisis ◽  
The Arab Spring

Following the Arab Spring, the Middle East is in chaos with ongoing wars in Yemen and Syria. There are millions of Syrians seeking refuge in neighboring countries like Turkey and Lebanon, and in European countries like Greece, Hungary, and Germany. Nonetheless, the largest proportion of Syrian refugees in hosted by neighboring countries needing continuous support of the international community. As the issue of Syrian refugees is transnational, there is a need to look for multilateral options for dealing with the crisis. Thus, the role of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) becomes crucial. Irrespective of being labelled as a ‘talk fest', there is no denying of the fact that OIC has significant potential for tackling grave challenges facing the Muslim world. The problems range from extremism and radicalization to poverty and illiteracy. Now there is the emergent challenge of refugees from the Middle Eastern crisis. This paper evaluates the role of OIC with reference to the Syrian refugee crisis in the Middle East and beyond.

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