Dear Deeply Readers,
Welcome to the archives of Refugees Deeply. While we paused regular publication of the site on April 1, 2019, we are happy to serve as an ongoing public resource on refugees and migration. We hope you’ll enjoy the reporting and analysis that was produced by our dedicated community of editors and contributors.
We continue to produce events and special projects while we explore where the on-site journalism goes next. If you’d like to reach us with feedback or ideas for collaboration you can do so at [email protected].
Exploring potential solutions to issues affecting refugees and migrants around the world
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Migration is a positive side effect of development, and aid should not be spent in pursuit of keeping people where they are. Development economist Michael Clemens sorts the evidence from the politics in conversation with Refugees Deeply.
Joanna Theodorou Founder and Director, Campfire Innovation
The refugee response in Greece has been a breeding ground for smart and small volunteer groups. Joanna Theodorou has been mapping the best of them and capturing lessons learned.
Experts weigh in on the “zero draft” of the Global Compact on Migration, an international agreement to improve cooperation over migration which countries will negotiate this year.
As the route to Australia has shut, Indonesia is making a reluctant and contradictory switch from being a transit country. But refugees there often face a struggle to survive.
Experts weigh in on the U.N. refugee agency’s “zero draft” of the Refugee Compact, a global deal on transforming refugee response set to be agreed this year.
In our latest Deeply Talks, the Migration Policy Institute’s Kathleen Newland and Refugees Deeply’s Daniel Howden discuss some of the key issues they’re watching in a critical year ahead for refugees and migration.
Katelyn Gough Research Assistant
Michael Clemens Economist, Center for Global Development at IZA Institute for the Study of Labor
As the world plans for future migration, it’s important to remember that the benefits are not automatic. Economist Michael Clemens highlights the ideas that hold the greatest promise.
Around Lebanon, men working as peer leaders are educating other men on the damage that child marriage does to girls and young women, in the hopes of convincing fathers to stop marrying off their daughters.
Jessica Marks Founder and Co-President, Refugee Center Online
Lana Radosavljevic Employee Services Associate, Upwardly Global
The explosion of tech solutions for refugees in Europe has earned justified skepticism, but there are smarter ways to harness technology to improve refugee support, say Jessica Marks and Lana Radosavljevic of the Refugee Center Online, offering lessons from the U.S.
Euan Ritchie Supports the Work of Owen Barder in the CGD Europe Office
Owen Barder Vice President, Center for Global Development
Experiments like social impact bonds point the way to smart investments in integrating refugees. Leading development economist Owen Barder says the right incentives could unlock returns for investors.
We speak to Omron Blauo, co-founder of the Refugee Code Academy, about his efforts to bring coding skills to refugee camps in Africa and what he has learned from the challenges they faced along the way.
Jessica Brandt FELLOW, BROOKINGS
Jorge Elorza MAYOR OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND
After the Trump administration quit talks over the U.N. Migration Compact, U.S. mayors joined a petition for cities to play a greater role. Jorge Elorza, mayor of Providence, Rhode Island, and Brookings’ Jessica Brandt examine the significance of cities stepping in.
Reports of abuse prompted Kenya to stop recruitment agencies from sending its citizens to work as domestic workers in the Middle East. Now it’s lifting the ban, and introducing new rules it says will ensure Kenyans don’t suffer at the hands of foreign employers.
Colombia has the world’s most internally displaced people and a landmark IDP rights framework. In our Deeply Talks, Georgetown University’s Elizabeth Ferris and Colombian expert Oscar Ivan Rico Valencia examine how to reset the global agenda on internal displacement.
Helisane Mahlke Ph.D. in International Law, University of São Paulo
Nicolas Parent Master in Risk, Crisis and Disaster Management, University of Leicester
Lilian Yamamoto Ph.D. in International Law, Kanagawa University
Following Latin American traditions of solidarity, Peru and Brazil have taken in many Venezuelans fleeing their country. Yet government responses have critical gaps, which could leave many more unprotected if Venezuela’s crisis escalates, say three regional experts.
Uganda’s open refugee policies inspired a major U.N. reform initiative, but international funds have not kept pace with its refugee crisis. In this analysis, Melanie Gouby examines what happens when model integration policies are not backed with adequate resources.
In the Rohingya refugee camps of southern Bangladesh, women-only support centers run by volunteers offer a safe space for those who have survived violence during Myanmar’s brutal military campaign.
The number of people displaced inside their own countries is nearly double the global refugee population, yet this has slipped off international agendas. Refugees Deeply asked several experts what’s needed to refocus global attention on internally displaced people.
Jeremy Konyndyk Former Director, OFDA
Stripping the refugee agency out of the State Department would weaken humanitarian priorities in U.S. policy, argues former USAID official Jeremy Konyndyk. He says the White House’s motives for pushing this reform should be questioned.
Marie Walter-Franke Affiliate Fellow, Jacques Delors Institut – Berlin
Shani Bar-Tuvia Doctoral Student, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
The case for offshore processing of asylum seekers is made in humanitarian language but it conceals another agenda, say researchers Marie Walter-Franke and Shani Bar-Tuvia. States are seeking to trade legal obligations for humanitarian gestures.
Ruvi Ziegler Associate Professor in International Refugee Law
Allowing recognized refugees to vote would give them a stake in their host societies, says author and associate law professor Ruvi Ziegler. It’s time to go beyond protection to provide a place in a political community.
Paul Clewett Senior Migration Analyst, Seefar
Pernille Goodall Head of Strategic Communications, Seefar
Development programming can make some cities in Libya livable for migrants again, say development experts Paul Clewett and Pernille Goodall. They also offer a noncoercive means to reducing people flows across the Mediterranean.
Daniel Garrote Sanchez Senior Researcher, Bayanat Box and the Lebanese Center for Policy Studies
Leila Kabalan Policy Consultant, Bayanat Box
While more data is available than ever before, there is little evidence-driven debate on refugees in countries like Lebanon that host the majority of Syrians. Arab digital platform Bayanat Box explains how it works to improve public comprehension of refugee data.
Germany is facing the task of integrating 400,000 school-age refugees. Berlin, with its history of diversity, has ramped up an education program providing special classes to newcomers that is now being replicated elsewhere.
Malin Björk Member of the European Parliament for the Swedish Left Party
E.U. resettlement could follow the U.N.’s original vision or become part of the European Commission’s efforts to deter migration. Swedish MEP, Malin Bjork, argues for resettlement designed on humanitarian principles, not ‘Fortress Europe’ fears.
Created by two Syrian sisters in Lebanon, the dolls in the Ana Collection are decorated with images representing the fears and dreams of people living through the conflict raging in Syria.
Julie Jalloul Officer and Humanitarian Interpreter, Translators without Borders
Humanitarian interpreters are in short supply, undermining effective refugee response in countries like Greece, writes Julie Jalloul of Translators without Borders, which is launching a new platform to help connect interpreters and refugee support groups.
Philippe Legrain Founder, OPEN
What kind of support do refugees really need to get jobs? Philippe Legrain, founder of the OPEN think-tank, outlines his new 22-country study on what works best to help refugees find employment quickly, thus bringing dividends to local economies.
As Australia tries to close its offshore detention centers, Refugees Deeply asked several experts to chart a way forward for its policy on refugee boats that would be both effective and humane.
The Melissa Network in Athens brings together leaders of the established migrant community in Greece with new arrivals to collaborate on integration. Melissa co-founder Deborah Carlos-Valencia explains the network’s philosophy and success.
A clinic for refugees in Colorado aims to provide an alternative model for refugee health services in the U.S. Its founder, P.J. Parmar, discusses his for-profit approach, Medicaid and the inefficiencies of the U.S. healthcare system.
Refugees Deeply asked a selection of experts whether charities undertaking search and rescue in the Central Mediterranean should sign Italy’s new code of conduct.
Mollie Gerver Assistant Professor of International Politics, Newcastle University
In the second in a two-part series on paying refugees to leave, researcher Mollie Gerver outlines the four pillars of ethical policy for the return of asylum seekers to their countries of origin.
The chairman of the newly established Syrian International Business Association, Samer Chamsi-Pasha, says the Syrian diaspora needs to mobilize to help countries hosting Syrian refugees.
EdSeed is a new mobile app that aims to connect individual and corporate donors with displaced university students. We talked with cofounder Rama Chakaki about the app’s pilot phase and edSeed’s ambitions to expand refugee education.
Mollie Gerver Assistant Professor of International Politics, Newcastle University
In the first in a two-part series on the ethics of paying refugees to leave, author Mollie Gerver looks at how much different host governments are prepared to pay to get asylum seekers to go home.
Michael Clemens Economist, Center for Global Development at IZA Institute for the Study of Labor
Past waves of refugees had varied but limited effects on the jobs and income of workers in countries they moved to, finds Michael Clemens from the Center for Global Development. The impact of new arrivals in Europe will depend on governments learning the right lessons.
A European initiative to fast-track qualification checks for refugees aims to provide a clear account of their academic record and get more refugees into higher education, reports Nikolia Apostolou for Al-Fanar Media.
Dutch residents and refugees live and work together in a converted jail in Amsterdam. The project serves as a prime example of the city’s new integration policy, which emphasizes education and quick integration into the labor market.
David Evangelista President and Managing Director, Special Olympics Europe Eurasia
Refugees with intellectual disabilities are a largely forgotten and highly vulnerable group on the margins of the global displacement crisis. David Evangelista of the Special Olympics explains how the movement offers an alternative model for embracing refugees.
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