4. Responding to refugee movements

This chapter discusses the global refugee system. The fundamental principles are detailed in the 1951 Refugee Convention and the core institution of the system is the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). These instruments are supposed to ensure that refugees have access to key rights. However, today’s global refugee system has often had difficulty in providing effective responses to refugee movements. The chapter examines the principal constraints on responding to refugee movements through international cooperation within the context of a radically changing international political system, an expanding global mobility regime, and a growing and diverse group of displaced people in need of assistance and protection.

1. Who are refugees and other forced migrants?

This chapter defines who refugees are. Persons recognized as refugees are individuals who have fled persecution and conflict in their home country and no longer enjoy the legal protections afforded to citizens of a state. As a consequence, the 1951 Refugee Convention stipulates that refugees should be protected and should have access to national courts, the right to employment and education, and a host of other social, economic, and civil rights on a par with nationals of the host country. The chapter then looks at the differences between refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced persons (IDPs), and why they leave their home countries. Together, they are referred to as forced migrants.

2. Refugees

This chapter traces the history of refugees. Throughout all periods of human history, people have been forcibly displaced and have fled their homes as a consequence of political, ethnic, and religious persecution, and wars. The practice of receiving societies and religious institutions offering some form of protection, political belonging, and rights for the displaced has an equally long history. By the late 1940s, the newly created United Nations recognized the need to extend the existing international treaties and organizations regarding refugees particularly to meet the growing post-war refugee problem in Europe. The result was a process that established the contemporary global refugee regime.

6. Civil society, NGOs, and refugees

This chapter focuses on the role of civil society, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and refugee-led initiatives in protecting and assisting refugees and other forced migrants. A number of civil society actors were involved with the drafting of the 1951 Refugee Convention. Moreover, it was a civil society movement that persuaded states to declare the UN’s World Refugee Year 60 years ago. Both refugees and humanitarian actors now face a multitude of new security challenges, such as the changing nature of conflict and the worldwide spread of terrorism. As a consequence, it has become extremely dangerous for aid workers to carry out their humanitarian work.

3. Causes of refugee movements

This chapter examines the causes of refugee movements. The majority of mass movements today are caused by internal conflicts, and ethnic cleansing, genocide, and politicide; religious, cultural, and ethnic intolerance; socio-economic inequalities; and increasingly by conflict-induced famine, mass starvation, and climate change. As a consequence, there has been a proliferation of complex emergencies that combine internal conflicts with large-scale displacement of people. Until the international community is able to effectively address these root causes, forced displacement will remain a common feature of world affairs. It is thus critical to ensure that international responses to forced migration also lay the foundation for refugees to find a solution to their plight.

7. The challenges ahead

This chapter offers directions for more effective approaches to refugee situations. As long as the growing scale of forced migration is driven by severe human rights violations, failing states, and intrastate conflicts, the prospects of solutions for refugees depend largely on resolving these issues. International organizations need to adopt programmes and policies to involve and strengthen civil society and local institutions. Lasting solutions will only be found if a concerted effort is made to defuse ethnic and religious tensions, resolve armed conflicts, protect human rights, strengthen arms control measures, and promote equitable and sustainable development. Through shared responsibility, collective action, and the active participation of refugees themselves, solutions are possible.

5. Perceptions and misperceptions about refugees

This chapter looks at perceptions and misperceptions about refugees, considering anti-refugee and anti-migrant rhetoric. The lived experiences of refugees and asylum seekers are often far removed from how they are represented in the media and public discourse. While it would be hard to generalize from these diverse experiences, the responses of states, the lack of international cooperation, and the limits of the global refugee system have fuelled many misperceptions about refugees. The chapter then discusses how restrictive policies affect all refugees. They can compound the challenges faced by particular categories of vulnerable refugees, such as women, children and adolescents, the elderly, refugees with disabilities, and members of the LGBTQ community.