Originally published on the CGS blog on June 15, 2015.
Current refugee-migrant flows (from Burma and Bangladesh toward Thailand and Malaysia, and across the Mediterranean from Africa and the Middle East toward Europe) have highlighted the need to address the root causes of such migration and refugee flows. We need to move beyond the narrow definition of the 1951 Convention on the Status of Refugees, which claims a refugee is someone who,
owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality.
Migration and refugee flows are intrinsically of the same nature, differing only in the degree and intensity of the problems that drive them from their homes. The root causes can be summed up as:
- poverty with little hope of change;
- social tensions (some created for political reasons);
- environmental degradation.
These conditions uproot people, resulting in alienation and suffering. Some stay within their own country (the “internally displaced”). Those who cross State borders become migrants or refugees, thus a concern to neighboring States and the United Nations—in particular the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
Ideally, there should be successful conflict resolution efforts in armed conflict zones, such as those in the Middle East; land reforms with greater emphasis on rural growth, improved access to credit for the poor, and environmental protection; and a pluralistic political order in Burma (Myanmar) and Bangladesh.
The same measures for ecologically sound development and overcoming vulnerability should be taken in African countries whose citizens join with those from the Middle East in trying to cross the Mediterranean. Greater efforts and resources should also be directed toward meeting the basic needs of people in their home countries.
Yet conflict resolution takes time. There are few signs of an end to the armed conflicts in Syria and Iraq or to the establishment of a stable and just political order in Libya. Transitioning to a democratic and pluralistic government in Myanmar, granting dignity and respect to all “national minorities” is likely to be a long process. It is not clear that the military that has been in control since 1960 will be very helpful. Ecologically sound development is also slow, even when governments are relatively competent.
Faced with the problem of the arrival of refugees and migrants, neighboring countries have often hardened their responses and created growing restrictive measures. There has been a growing emphasis on the punishment of traffickers who profit from the migration flows and, to an extent, encourage it. In Europe, we have seen the growth of anti-migration proposals by political parties, usually parties in opposition but at times as part of governing coalition governments. Nationalist discourses are reinvented and reasserted. We have seen the tightening of immigration controls and the deportation of “illegal entrants.” Australia and Israel have followed the same practices.
The consequences of these methods lead many refugees and migrants to live extremely grim, inhumane, and uncertain lives, unable to find regular work or send their children to school.
Fortunately, there has been a response from NGOs to the challenge of the increased number of refugees and migrants. Often it has been a spontaneous effort of good will by persons who have met a refugee or migrant. But such efforts by NGOs need greater support and coordination. Action groups need to be able to act at the same time in more than one country, especially as governments within the European Union meet among themselves to adopt common restrictive policies. The same is true of the members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), some of whom have met in Thailand to discuss how to cope with the refugee flows.
Thus we face a double task: peace, reform, and development in countries from which refugees and migrants leave and a coordinated policy of help, support, and integration in the countries receiving them. These are urgent tasks—vigorous and coordinated actions by NGOs are needed.
