{"id":165399,"date":"2020-09-11T04:31:47","date_gmt":"2020-09-11T02:31:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/policies-should-better-support-people-trapped-in-long-term-refugee-situations\/"},"modified":"2020-09-11T04:31:47","modified_gmt":"2020-09-11T02:31:47","slug":"policies-should-better-support-people-trapped-in-long-term-refugee-situations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/policies-should-better-support-people-trapped-in-long-term-refugee-situations\/","title":{"rendered":"Policies should better support people trapped in long-term refugee situations"},"content":{"rendered":"
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People that are forced to live away from their homes for five years or more \u2013 such as refugees or internally displaced persons (IDPs) \u2013 are said to live in a situation of protracted displacement. In 2018 it was reported that 78% of all refugees<\/a> live in protracted displacement.<\/p>\n

This is a very challenging state. Most are vulnerable and highly dependent on external support from governments, NGOs or relatives. They also have insecure legal statuses and don\u2019t have the ability \u2013 or opportunity \u2013 to rebuild their lives because of scarce economic resources, the legal framework that regulates their lives or societies that don\u2019t welcome them. <\/p>\n

In many cases, they can neither return home nor move on to other countries, nor really integrate in the country of reception. <\/p>\n

We\u2019ve been carrying out research<\/a> that explores the experiences and solutions for protracted displaced populations around the world. Specifically, we examine the rules that dictate people\u2019s ability to work, where they live, options for family reunification, and access to accommodation, education and health care. <\/p>\n

We found that<\/a> international and host country policies don\u2019t adequately address the challenges posed by forced displacement across the world. <\/p>\n

The traditional \u201cdurable\u201d solutions are<\/a> return, local integration and resettlement. But these aren\u2019t realistic because of the way institutions and rules restrict refugees\u2019 movement, access to services and rights. <\/p>\n

If refugees, for instance, aren\u2019t allowed to work, how can they become locally integrated into the host society? And if only a fraction do get access to resettlement programmes, then resettlement can\u2019t be seen as a sustainable solution to resolve situations that affect tens of thousands of people. <\/p>\n

More innovative and long-term approaches need to be developed that recognise the fundamentals of human rights and livelihood security. They must also allow for the freedom of movement, ensuring people reach safe countries when they need to and allow for access to resources and networks in home regions. <\/p>\n

Finally, policies can only be developed by including refugees, IDPs and migrants\u2019 own perspectives in policy-making. This creates<\/a> ownership and \u2018buy into\u2019 by those affected. <\/p>\n

Wrong focus<\/h2>\n

Recently, governments have made important strides in addressing refugee issues, putting more emphasis<\/a> on improving social cohesion, host-refugee relations and promoting broader economic development in host countries. <\/p>\n

But there\u2019s been an increasing number<\/a> of displaced people. This makes the situation more complex and increases<\/a> populist and racist trends in host countries. It requires more collaboration, coordination and constant improvement between stakeholders.<\/p>\n

In many cases, especially in the Global South, national measures addressed to displaced people are strongly \u2018upward\u2019 oriented. They look to satisfy the international community \u2013 in particular the UNHCR<\/a>, IOM,<\/a>World Bank<\/a> and EU<\/a> \u2013 rather than concentrating on local socio-economic needs. <\/p>\n

This is understandable as these international actors often provide funding and demand accountability, but it doesn\u2019t necessarily translate into a sustained focus on displaced people\u2019s actual needs and the realisation of durable solutions.<\/p>\n

Waiting for regional initiatives<\/h2>\n

Another challenge is that regional blocs \u2013 such as the European Union<\/a>, African Union<\/a> and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development<\/a> \u2013 have policies that can sometimes protract, rather than resolve, displacement situations. For instance their policies could restrict people\u2019s freedom of movement and right to work. <\/p>\n

An example of this is the EU\u2019s securitisation and externalisation of control agenda<\/a>. This prioritises internal security and outsources border control to neighbouring countries. This overrules other agendas such as mobility, rights and livelihoods and could contribute to improving protracted displacement. <\/p>\n

Yet studies show that people living in protracted situations rely heavily<\/a> on social networks to survive and make a living. They also need to have mobility which allows<\/a> them to cross borders and find security outside their home countries. <\/p>\n

Internally displaced people and refugees should be seen as contributors to social and economic life in a receiving country. Disregard of this potential contribution also harms host\u2013refugee relations. If they can\u2019t work it could protract the displacement situation. Italy<\/a> and Greece<\/a> are cases in point. <\/p>\n

\n

Read more: Refugee camps versus urban refugees: what’s been said — and done<\/a> <\/strong> <\/em>\n<\/p>\n

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New solutions<\/h2>\n

Looking at the type of policies and programmes in place to support internally displaced persons and refugees, there is an unmistakable focus on humanitarian interventions, especially emergency aid. This almost inevitably competes with longer-term sustainable solutions to protracted displacement<\/a> as solutions are not geared towards becoming self-reliant but towards addressing immediate needs. This needs to change.<\/p>\n

Initiatives such as the Jordan Response Plan for the Syrian Crisis<\/a> are important steps to bridge the gap. This plan seeks to better integrate and complement humanitarian measures.<\/p>\n

Mobility and translocal livelihoods are also significant strategies<\/a> for displaced people but are often hampered by multiple restrictions. <\/p>\n

Solutions do exist. <\/p>\n

Humanitarian visas<\/a>, for instance would allow people to flee from insecurity with temporary travel documents through \u2018humanitarian corridors\u2019<\/a> but thus far they are not regulated at a European level.<\/p>\n

Another possibility is the introduction of private sponsorship schemes<\/a> whereby private individuals provide financial and emotional support to the displaced. Over the past 40 years, the Canadian government has resettled<\/a> nearly 300,000 refugees through this program. <\/p>\n

These innovative ideas could go to great lengths in addressing protracted displacement around the world.<\/p>\n

Source: The Conversation<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

People that are forced to live away from their homes for five years or more \u2013 such as refugees or internally displaced persons (IDPs) \u2013 are said to live in a situation of protracted displacement. In 2018 it was reported that 78% of all refugees live in protracted displacement. This is a very challenging state. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":165400,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-165399","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa-news-2","8":"tag-mypr","9":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/policies-should-better-support-people-trapped-in-long-term-refugee-situations.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}