Repurposing Frozen Assets to Assist the Forcibly Displaced — Research Paper
Legal analysis of innovative options for repurposing frozen assets of kleptocrats to assist the forcibly displaced and the countries hosting them.
Virtual Conference Report — Refugee Women: Responding to COVID-19
Read the final report from our virtual conference with the Global Independent Refugee Women Leaders (GIRWL) network on June 9, 2020. Author WRMC
Meaningfully Engaging Youth in the Governance of the Global Refugee System — Research Paper No. 18
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.
The Role of Technology in Addressing the Global Migration Crisis — Conference Report
One of the first of its kind, this multi-stakeholder event brought together representatives from the private sector and civil society as well as researchers and former political leaders to explore the challenges and opportunities in the use of technology and its potential to transform the global refugee system.
Making States Accountable for Deliberate Forced Displacement — Research Paper No. 17
While the international refugee regime is anchored in the 1951 Refugee Convention and the work of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Convention is silent on the question of state culpability, and the UNHCR’s Statute established its entirely non-political character.
The Global Refugee Regime and UN System-wide Reforms — Research Paper No. 16
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.
Digital Developments: Harbingers of Humanitarian Change? — Research Paper No. 15
The author analyzes three digital trends with the potential to create profound changes, perhaps even to redraw the boundaries of what constitutes “protection,” a notion upon which the humanitarian system is based.
Innovations in Responsibility Sharing for Refugees — Research Paper No. 14
This paper 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.
Governance of the Global Refugee Regime — Research Paper No. 13
The authors propose a model for enhanced governance of the regime that could contribute to improved protection and solutions for refugees and to more predictability for states and the international system.
Data Protection and Digital Agency for Refugees — Research Paper No. 12
This paper analyzes how the vast amount of data collected from refugees is gathered, stored and shared today, and considers the additional risks this collection process poses to an already vulnerable population navigating a perilous information-decision gap.
Opportunities and Challenges of Emerging Technologies for the Refugee System — Research Paper No. 11
Efforts are being made to use information and communications technologies to improve accountability in providing refugee aid. However, there remains a pressing need for increased accountability and transparency when designing and deploying humanitarian technologies.
Innovative Global Governance for Internally Displaced Persons — Research Paper No. 10
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.
Resolving Refugee Situations: Seeking Solutions Worthy of the Name — Research Paper No. 9
This paper reviews recent developments, ideas and opportunities associated with the search for durable solutions to the displacement of refugees and other forced migrants, in particular, internally displaced persons.
Refugee Voices — Research Paper No. 8
Numerous refugees themselves believe that having their voices heard is an indispensable basic need, but although refugee voices are often given lip service, they are rarely taken seriously.
The Essentials — A Call to Action: Transforming the Global Refugee System
This summary document, The Essentials, introduces the bold actions by theme proposed in the Council’s A Call to Action report.
A Call to Action: Transforming the Global Refugee System
Nearly 70 million people around the world, half of them children, fled persecution and conflict, sought asylum or were internally displaced in 2017, and those
“Call Me a Business Owner, Not a Refugee!” Challenges of and Perspectives on Newcomer Entrepreneurship — Research Paper No. 7
Lubna Rashid Participating in the labour market is vital to newcomers’ successful integration in the host country. Although most newcomers participate through wage earning, some
Harnessing Trade Law to Support Refugees and Host Countries — Discussion Paper No. 3
Lawrence L. Herman The World Trade Organization estimates that more than 65 million people globally are refugees or displaced persons. Beyond the human dimensions of
Using the Compact Model to Support Host States and Refugee Self-reliance — Research Paper No. 6
Nazanin Ash and Cindy Huang Traditional financing mechanisms for the global refugee system do not reflect the realities on the ground. The life-saving assistance prioritized
No Strangers at the Gate: Collective Responsibility and a Region’s Response to the Venezuelan Refugee and Migration Crisis
Este informe también está disponible en español Michael J. Camilleri and Fen Osler Hampson Venezuela’s political, economic, and humanitarian crisis has given rise to the
Xenophobia toward Refugees and Other Forced Migrants — Research Paper No. 5
Sarah Deardorff Miller Generally speaking, those who study forced migration and those who advocate for solutions to forced migration generally spend little time studying xenophobia.
Assessing the Impacts of Hosting Refugees — Research Paper No. 4
This paper reviews the existing research examining the impacts of refugee hosting through economic, social, political, environmental and security perspectives, identifying areas of consensus and
Refugees and the City: The Twenty-first-century Front Line — Research Paper No. 2
Robert Muggah, Adriana Erthal Abdenur Today, more than 60 percent of all refugees and 80 percent of all internally displaced persons are living in urban
From Rhetoric to Reality: Achieving Gender Equality for Refugee Women and Girls — Research Paper No. 3
Eileen Pittaway and Linda Bartolomei This paper addresses the international refugee regime’s failure, despite significant international law and policy developed over the past 30 years,
Mobilizing Political Will for Refugee Protection and Solutions: A Framework for Analysis and Action — Research Paper No. 1
Many commentators have suggested that the displacement of people across international borders is caused by a lack of “political will,” and that refugee situations could be averted, mitigated or resolved if only such will existed. However, there has been little serious analysis as to what “political will” means and how to generate and sustain it in a refugee context.
World Refugee & Migration Council Research
The bold recommendations of the World Refugee & Migration Council’s (formerly called the World Refugee Council) Call to Action: Transforming the Global Refugee System report are grounded in peer-reviewed research papers and reports on issues impacting displaced people and migrants.
New research to support the Council’s projects for implementing many of its innovative proposed actions focuses on:
- Holding governments and kleptocrats accountable for displacement
- Gender — with a particular focus on refugee women and girls
- Climate change and migration, and
- Host communities — both the impact of protracted displacement and innovative ways of supporting host governments
The research agenda will continue to evolve as the Council engages in other issues, such as the impact of COVID-19 on Syrian refugees. Researchers interested in submitting their work for possible publication are encourage to contact us at: research@wrmcouncil.org
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