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Begin New Search Topic Displacement Political Geography Global Focus Content Type Working Paper Publication Year within 5 Years

1. The legacies of armed conflict: insights from stayees and returning forced migrants

Author:
Isabel Ruiz and Carlos Vargas-Silva
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
How does conflict, displacement, and return shape trust, reconciliation, and community engagement? And what is the relative impact of exposure to violence on these indicators? In this paper we explore these questions by focusing on the legacies of armed conflict and the differences between those who stayed in their communities of origin during the conflict (stayees) and those who were displaced internally and internationally and who returned home over time (returnees). The results, which rely on analysis of data we collected in Burundi, suggest that internal returnees have significantly lower levels of trust, reconciliation, and community engagement than stayees, whereas the differences between international returnees and stayees are mostly statistically insignificant. Greater exposure to violence has a more positive effect on trust for returnees compared to stayees. On the other hand greater exposure to violence has a more negative effect on reconciliation and community engagement for returnees compared to stayees.
Topic:
Displacement, Conflict, Reconciliation, Trust, and Migrants
Political Geography:
Global Focus

2. A People’s Vaccine For Refugees: Ensuring access to COVID-19 vaccines for refugees and other displaced people

Author:
Charlotte Greener
Publication Date:
11-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Oxfam Publishing
Abstract:
As we continue to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, it is vital that no one is excluded from vaccine coverage. This briefing note addresses some of the challenges faced by displaced people – including refugees, asylum seekers, IDPs, stateless people, and others in displacement contexts – in accessing COVID-19 vaccinations. It identifies a range of administrative and logistical barriers, the issue of lack of information and vaccine hesitancy, and gender-specific barriers to access for these populations. The briefing note provides recommendations to governments, UN agencies, and other actors to help address these challenges and ensure vaccine access for all displaced people.
Topic:
Refugees, Displacement, Humanitarian Intervention, Pandemic, and COVID-19
Political Geography:
Global Focus

3. Electoral Rights of Environmentally Displaced Persons

Publication Date:
04-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
International Foundation for Electoral Systems
Abstract:
Environmental disasters such as fires, droughts, floods, hurricanes and rising sea levels displace more and more people each year. According to the University of Oxford, the scale of displacement related to climate change is difficult to forecast but has been “estimated at between 50 and 200 million people by 2050, mostly in developing countries.” Climate change, other environmental crises and migration resulting from environmental displacement increase the likelihood of insecurity and conflict – and put democratic rights at risk. A new paper from the International Foundation for Electoral Systems, Electoral Rights of Environmentally Displaced Persons, examines these questions and provides recommendations for election management bodies, governments, international organizations, political parties, the media, civil society organizations and displaced persons. Environmental challenges can exacerbate pre-existing vulnerabilities, including marginalization due to race, gender, disability and other identity factors. Widely ratified international treaties and resolutions obligate the state to provide accessible electoral processes, including special measures for women, persons with disabilities, youth, Indigenous peoples and racial and other minorities who may be at increased risk of marginalization. They also are critical agents to address the consequences of climate change. Electoral Rights of Environmentally Displaced Persons emphasizes how environmental challenges can exacerbate pre-existing vulnerabilities, including marginalization due to race, gender, disability and other identity factors. Displaced persons are key stakeholders. Those most affected by environmental problems need to be able to vote, run for office and engage with candidates and elected representatives to influence agendas, challenge policies and hold governments accountable. Political participation is particularly important in integrating them into their new environments to avoid conflict with host communities. Displaced persons can also bring skills, insights and talents that benefit their new communities.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Elections, Displacement, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

4. State(s) of Negotiation: Drivers of Forced Migration Governance in Most of the World

Author:
Lea Muller-Funk, Christiane Frohlich, and André Bank
Publication Date:
08-2020
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
German Institute of Global and Area Studies
Abstract:
Between normative aspirations and national interests, forced migrants often become pawns in host states’ negotiations with internal and external actors. Focusing on North Africa, the Middle East, and the Horn of Africa, this paper offers an analytical framework to better understand forced migration governance across space and time from a more global, pluralist perspective in a logic of iterative theory-building. We hypothesise that some drivers of forced migration governance are distinct from drivers of migration governance – for example, global policy and conceptions of humanitarian norms and principles play a larger role in the former. We hypothesise that while forced migration governance is negotiated around humanitarian principles, in which international actors, externalisation, and civil society play a crucial role, it also functions as a regime strategy and is driven by certain characteristics of forced migrant groups, including size and perceived identity proximity. Finally, forced migration governance is characterised by strong path dependency.
Topic:
Migration, Governance, Displacement, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

5. Where Do Internally Displaced People Live and What Does that Mean for Their Economic Integration?

Author:
Cindy Huang and Jimmy Graham
Publication Date:
05-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
There are over 68.5 million forcibly displaced people in the world, including about 40 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) who have moved because of conflict, including political, communal, and criminal violence.[i] There are millions more IDPs who have been displaced by other drivers, including disasters, economic instability, and development projects such as infrastructure construction. These IDPs, 99 percent of whom are in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), face severe economic challenges as a result of displacement.[1] To help them overcome these challenges, policymakers should focus on helping IDPs achieve greater self-reliance. The best approach to doing so will depend in large part upon the context—particularly the extent to which IDP populations are based in urban or rural areas. Our analysis shows that about half of IDPs in LMICs are in urban areas, that the composition varies significantly across countries, and that there is a substantial lack of IDP location data.
Topic:
Displacement, Urban, Rural, Internal Displacement, and Economic Integration
Political Geography:
Global Focus

6. How Urban are IDPs and What Does that Mean for Their Economic Integration?

Author:
Cindy Huang and Jimmy Graham
Publication Date:
05-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Global Development
Abstract:
As of December 2017, there were over 68.5 million forcibly displaced people in the world, including about 40 million Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) displaced by conflict.[1] Millions more were displaced internally by other drivers, including disasters, economic instability, and development projects such as infrastructure construction.[2] IDPs face severe economic challenges as a result of their displacement, with harmful impacts on consumption, health, education, security, housing, labor conditions, and social outcomes.[3] They face these challenges for long periods of time: IDPs often spend many years or even decades displaced.[4] And for displaced women and girls—who face unique challenges ranging from legal restrictions on owning property to larger wage reductions following displacement—the economic challenges can be even greater.[5] Furthermore, IDPs tend to be disproportionately located in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): over 99 percent of the world’s IDPs displaced by conflict are in LMICs. Within these countries, populations in more marginalized areas are often more severely affected by displacement.[6] Thus, those who are displaced tend to face greater economic difficulties to begin with and displacement only compounds these difficulties.
Topic:
Displacement, Urban, Internal Displacement, and Economic Integration
Political Geography:
Global Focus

7. Innovative Global Governance for Internally Displaced Persons

Author:
Walter Kölin
Publication Date:
04-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
The number of internally displaced persons is at a record high, with most living in protracted displacement. While the humanitarian response in emergency situations is more effective than a decade ago, overall governance — the set of norms, institutions and processes necessary to address internal displacement — remains weak. Using the 1998 UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement as the normative point of reference, this paper addresses several questions: What governance gaps and challenges exist in responses to internal displacement? Are there promising new approaches to internal displacement? How can we build on these approaches to make responses more reliable and effective?
Topic:
Governance, Displacement, Humanitarian Crisis, and Internal Displacement
Political Geography:
Global Focus

8. The Global Refugee Regime and UN System-wide Reforms

Author:
Sarah Miller
Publication Date:
06-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
This paper considers how responsibility for ensuring refugee protection and access to solutions can be shared more reliably across the United Nations’ system, by examining entry points beyond traditional humanitarian actors (including peace and security actors in the United Nations), as well as the role states can play in supporting a broader response from the UN system. It draws upon a range of literature and concepts, including the Responsibility to Protect doctrine, offering a mapping and analysis of the proposed UN reforms within the humanitarian, development, financial, and peace and security sectors. It then considers how these reforms might be relevant to responsibility sharing in displacement situations and lays out some of the broader challenges to greater responsibility sharing. Finally, the paper provides recommendations for how to more fully engage these other actors — within the United Nations and beyond — to improve the prevention of, response to and resolution of displacement.
Topic:
Security, United Nations, Refugee Issues, Displacement, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

9. Innovations in Responsibility Sharing for Refugees

Author:
Tristan Harley
Publication Date:
05-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
In recent years, significant global attention — much of it through the negotiations of the 2016 New York Declaration and the 2018 Global Compact on Refugees — has been focused on developing more effective and equitable methods for sharing responsibility for refugees. States, international organizations, civil society organizations and academics have also put forward proposals and programs, alongside and in response to these negotiations. This paper examines and compares these initiatives, analyzing their strengths and limitations. It calls for a clearer understanding of the meaning and application of responsibility sharing for the protection of refugees and for further examination as to how the refugee regime interacts with other areas of international governance. It also highlights opportunities associated with incorporating refugees within broader development or human mobility initiatives, while it reiterates the need to preserve the principal humanitarian purpose of refugee protection and the provision of durable solutions through effective responsibility sharing. It proposes transitioning refugee financing and refugee resettlement away from voluntary, ad hoc contributions and toward more concrete legal and financial commitments, while accounting for states’ differing capacities and resources. One approach to implementing these changes is to bring together the actors who are most capable, most responsible and most vulnerable, within a mini-multilateral framework.
Topic:
Migration, Refugee Issues, Displacement, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

10. Meaningfully Engaging Youth in the Governance of the Global Refugee System

Author:
Bushra Ebadi
Publication Date:
11-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation
Abstract:
Young people aged 15 to 35 comprise one-third of the world’s population, yet they are largely absent from decision-making fora and, as such, unaccounted for in policy making, programming and laws. The disenfranchisement of displaced youth is a particular problem, because it further marginalizes young people who have already experienced persecution and been forcibly displaced. This paper aims to demonstrate the importance of including displaced youth in governance and decision making, to identify key barriers to engagement that displaced youth face, and to highlight effective strategies for engaging youth. Comprehensive financial, legal, social and governance reforms are needed in order to facilitate and support the meaningful engagement of youth in the refugee and IDP systems. Without these reforms and partnerships between youth and other diverse stakeholders, it will be difficult to achieve sustainable solutions for forcibly displaced populations and the communities that host them.
Topic:
Migration, Refugee Issues, Displacement, Youth Movement, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Asia, South America, North America, and Global Focus

11. States of Refuge: Keywords for Critical Refugee Studies

Author:
Peter Nyers
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition, McMaster University
Abstract:
The phenomenon of displacement is increasingly evident across a wide range of human activity, but there have been few attempts to consider the connections between these movements. For several years the international community has been focused on the displacement of Syrians from their homes and the resulting flow of refugees into neighbouring countries and Europe. More recently, more than 600,000 Rohingya refugees have fled the violence in Myanmar and captured the world’s attention. Less well known, but no less significant, has been the more than one million refugees fleeing the violence in South Sudan. All this public and governmental interest in migrants is not surprising given that, in 2015, the United Nations estimated that there were 244 million migrants in the world, including about 65.3 million forcibly displaced people, of which 20 million are refugees. These numbers – and the stories of suffering and survival that accompany them – have led former United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki Moon (2016), to declare that there exists a global “crisis of solidarity.” However, forced migration is just one case in the movement of peoples between states. An even larger migration occurs within states as rural residents pour into cities around the world, vividly captured in Mike Davis’s (2007) phrase “Planet of Slums.” Within many cities gentrification displaces local communities in favour of new residents with greater purchasing power. These events, moreover, take place in the background of earlier colonial displacements of Indigenous peoples and the legacies of those violent episodes. Displacement occurs both in the physical sense of people being moved from one place to another and in a cultural sense as in the case of the Canadian residential schools system destruction of First Nations culture. Shifting focus to human interaction with the natural world, the planet is on the verge of a historic displacement with the extinction of ecological systems and thousands of species with climate change and further industrialization (Jones 2016).
Topic:
Migration, Refugee Crisis, Displacement, and Humanitarian Crisis
Political Geography:
Global Focus

12. Denial, Delay, Diversion: Tackling Access Challenges in an Evolving Humanitarian Landscape

Author:
Kurtzer Jacob D.
Publication Date:
09-2019
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Abstract:
Principled humanitarian action is under attack around the world. Globally, 70.8 million people are considered forcibly displaced by armed conflict and nearly 132 million people need emergency humanitarian assistance. At the same time, there has been a steep escalation in the deliberate, willful obstruction of humanitarian access, impeding the ability of humanitarian aid to reach the most vulnerable people and vice versa. As humanitarian emergencies become increasingly complex and protracted, blocked humanitarian access will only increase without urgent action. To ensure the ability of aid to reach those who need it most and to uphold the principles of international humanitarian law, the United States should elevate humanitarian access as a foreign policy priority and work to reconcile tensions between critical national security measures and the growing needs of vulnerable populations in fragile, conflict-affected states. This report is the result of the CSIS Task Force on Humanitarian Access.
Topic:
Security, Displacement, Humanitarian Crisis, and Armed Conflict
Political Geography:
Global Focus