Current international legal and institutional frameworks for refugees and internally displaced people do not adequately address development aspects. They neither deal with the root causes of conflict nor promote long-term economic and social development. Issues around forced migration should become a key concern of development programming at the same time.

A report from the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford, UK, examines patterns of forced migration; responses by humanitarian actors such as governments, inter-governmental agencies and non-governmental organisations; and policy options. The study focuses on those displaced by conflict, violence and human rights abuses - including refugees, asylum seekers, internally displaced people and returnees.

Forced migration tends to arise in contexts of under-development and poor governance, and can become a major obstacle to development. It is therefore becoming increasingly important to development policy. Peace-making, post-conflict reconstruction and durable solutions for displaced people are central to achieving the Millennium Development Goals. A number of policy initiatives have recently been designed by UNHCR, the European Commission and various European governments to try and address this.

The report finds that:

• Globally, refugee and asylum seeker numbers have recently declined to less than ten million, and the number of internally displaced people has risen to 25 million – as rich states have begun trying to control forced migration closer to countries and regions of origin.
• Internally displaced people are often worse off than refugees, and have no specific international legal instruments to protect them, or organisations mandated to do so.
• UNHCR has launched important initiatives worthy of support such as the Agenda for Protection, Convention Plus and the Framework for Durable Solutions.
• There is conflict between some European Union (EU) policy initiatives, which aim to prevent secondary migration to Europe, and others that aim to alleviating pressures on conflict regions

The report highlights ideas behind UNHCR’s Framework for Durable Solutions as particularly useful. This attempts to bridge the relief-development gap through international collaboration. It encourages development through local integration of refugees, in situations where repatriation is impossible. In Zambia community projects have been devised that benefit both refugees and their host populations – such as communal hand-dug wells and grain storage bins. The Framework also promotes a four-step approach to the repatriation of refugees: repatriation, reintegration, rehabilitation and reconstruction. However, there is a need for independent evaluation of such projects and approaches, to ensure that goals set out in policy documents are actually achieved in practice.

The report concludes with a number of policy recommendations for donors particularly the UK Department of International Development:

• Promote a view of refugees and internally displaced people as active and resourceful survivors and not as dependent passive victims.
• Introduce a development perspective into refugee and asylum policies at the UK and EU level.
• Support international efforts to address the relief-development gap, such as UNHCR’s Framework for Durable Solutions.
• Ensure that refugee repatriation is voluntary and based on accurate and honest information of the situation back home.
• Support the expansion of the UK’s fledgling refugee resettlement program in support of third country resettlement.

Source(s):
‘Developing DFID’s Policy Approach to Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons’, A Research Consultancy by the Refugee Studies Centre for the Conflict and Humanitarian Affairs Department, UK Department for International Development, Volume 1, by Stephen Castles and Nicholas Van Hear, with Jo Boyden, Jason Hart, Christian Wolff, and Paul Ryder, February 2005 (PDF) Full document.

Funded by: UK Department for International Development

id21 Research Highlight: 28 July 2006

Further Information:
Stephen Castles
The Refugee Studies Centre
Department of International Development (QEH)
University of Oxford
Mansfield Road
Oxford OX1 3TB, UK

Tel: +44 (0)1865 270725
Fax: +44 (0)1865 270721
Contact the contributor:  stephen.castles@qeh.ox.ac.uk

Refugee Studies Centre, Queen Elizabeth House (QEH), UK

Nicholas Van Hear
Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS)
University of Oxford
58 Banbury Road
Oxford OX1 3TB, UK

Contact the contributor: nicholas.vanhear@compas.ox.ac.uk

Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS), University of Oxford