The securitisation of forced migration: changing ideas and beliefs about displacement and their impact on security
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Kent
Department Name: Sch of Politics & International Relation
Abstract
Abstracts are not currently available in GtR for all funded research. This is normally because the abstract was not required at the time of proposal submission, but may be because it included sensitive information such as personal details.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Anne Hammerstad (Principal Investigator / Fellow) |
Publications
Anne Hammerstad (Author)
(2011)
African Agency: Transnational Security Challenges. Migration, Health and Climate Change: Executive Summary
Anne Hammerstad (Author)
(2010)
The power of security: UNHCR and the securitization of forced migration
Anne Hammerstad (Author)
Victims or threats: Securitizing agendas of displacement
Anne Hammerstad (Author)
(2013)
Repatriating Afghan Refugees: A Sliding Scale of Voluntariness
Anne Hammerstad (Co-Author)
(2012)
National Security Risks? The Language of Risk in the Formulation of the UK's National Security Strategy
Beswick D
(2013)
African agency in a changing security environment: sources, opportunities and challenges
in Conflict, Security & Development
Betts, Alexander; Loescher, Gil
(2010)
Refugees in International Relations
Hammerstad
(2010)
Issues in 21st Century World Politics
Hammerstad A
Issues in 21st Century World Politics
Hammerstad A
(2017)
Issues in 21st Century World Politics
Hammerstad A
(2012)
Securitisation from below: the relationship between immigration and foreign policy in South Africa's approach to the Zimbabwe crisis
in Conflict, Security & Development
Hammerstad A
(2015)
The International Humanitarian Regime and its Discontents: India's Challenge
in The Round Table
Hammerstad A
(2014)
National security risks? Uncertainty, austerity and other logics of risk in the UK government's National Security Strategy
in Cooperation and Conflict
Hammerstad Anne
(2012)
Making the best out of immigration
Hammerstad Anne
(2011)
Linking South Africa's Immigration Policy and Zimbabwe Diplomacy
Hammerstad, A
(2013)
Issues in 21st Century World Politics
Hammerstad, A
(2016)
Refugees in Europe: A History of Migration, Displacement and Integration
in Per Concordiam: Journal of European Security and Defense Issues
| Description | The different strands of my research contribute to documenting the drivers, manifestations and consequences of a securitised understanding of migration, exemplified by my book 'The Rise and Decline of a Global Security Actor: The UNHCR, Refugee Protection and Security' (OUP, 2014); chapters in Betts and Loescher (OUP, 2011), Beeson and Bisley, Issues in 21st Century World Politics (2010, 2013 and 2016) and the OUP Handbook on Refugee and Forced Migration Studies (2014). I divide my findings into three categories: 1) The securitisation of forced migration and the erosion of refugee protection: I previously analysed UN High Commissioner for Refugees' adoption of a security discourse in the 1990s, accompanying its transformation into a leading humanitarian agency. As ESRC Fellow I expanded this research into the 2000s, when the UNHCR discarded its security discourse and became an eager 'desecuritiser'; urging governments, combatants and western publics to treat forced migrants as human beings in need of protection, not threats. I analyse the unprecedented challenges to asylum and refuge after 9/11. In the North, governments clamped down on asylum as an immigration soft spot open for abuse by international terrorists (see book chapter, 'UNHCR and the Securitization of Forced Migration' in Refugees in International Relations, OUP,2011). The 'war on terror' in the South undermined the idea of principled, non-political protection and assistance to displaced populations, as the politicisation of humanitarianism was taken to new levels. This research was published as a single author book on UNHCR, entitled 'The Rise and Decline of a Global Security Actor: UNHCR, Refugee Protection and Security (Oxford: OUP, 2014). Building on research conducted while an ESRC Fellow, a later article pursues the theme of the political and security concerns driving refugee and humanitarian politics by studying India as an 'emerging' humanitarian donor. It asks to what extent the values and norms underpinning the humanitarian system are challenged, or even undermined, by new humanitarian actors pursuing different and sometimes competing or conflictual agendas to those of traditional humanitarian donors. The article, entitled 'The International Humanitarian Regime and Its Discontents: India's Challenge', was published in The Round Table: The Commonwealth Journal of International Affairs in July 2015. 2) Securitisation processes and drivers in the case of Zimbabwean immigrants in South Africa: Studying the securitisation of Zimbabwean immigrants to South Africa, I disentangle the relationship between securitising actors and audiences. While the foreign and security policy elite mostly ignored immigration issues since they complicated South Africa's foreign policy goals towards Zimbabwe, Home Affairs officials reflected and fuelled a xenophobic anti-African immigration sentiment widespread at grassroots level. The resulting contradictory approach at government level contributed to 'securitisation from below' taking the destructive path of xenophobic violence and riots. Findings were disseminated in an academic article in the journal Conflict, Security and Development (2012), two policy briefings for the South African Institute of International Affairs (December 2011 and October 2012) and two workshops (Canterbury, June 2010 and Johannesburg, September 2012). 3) Contributions to theoretical developments: My research promotes the view that to understand actual, specific securitisation processes, we need an eclectic approach, utilising various securitisation 'schools' together with insights from conflict analysis and historical research. In the article 'National Security Risks' (published 25 December 2014 in the journal Cooperation and Conflict), we analyse the UK government's national security discourse, arguing that risk language accommodates the introduction of new security issues and justifies intrusive security practices, but does not fundamentally change the core of the security concept as relating to urgent, existential threats. In my UNHCR book, I argue that attempts, in the case of forced migration, to transform the concept of security in a more human-friendly direction, have not succeeded. Human security and common security arguments have not led to stronger international commitment to international refugee protection. Instead they have contributed to a generally permissive discursive environment, where refugees, asylum seekers and IDPs are effortlessly discussed in the same breath as a range of political, social, economic and environmental security threats and risks. In my article 'Securitisation from Below' in the journal Conflict, Security and Development, I develop a theoretical argument that 'securitisation' - the act of transforming an issue from an ordinary political problem to an extraordinary security challenge - is not always controlled and driven by political elites, but can achieve its own dynamics due to grassroots protests and actions. In the article I coin the term 'securitisation from below' to describe this phenomenon. The theoretical argument is backed up by an empirical study of how South Africa's foreign policy towards Zimbabwe was impacted by domestic concern and fear over an influx of Zimbabwean migrants and refugees. |
| Exploitation Route | For instance, I expect my research to influence understandings of how an international organisation such as UNHCR achieve power and relevance in global politics; changing dynamics of humanitarian politics; and insights into the particular displacement emergencies covered in the book 'The Rise and Decline of a Global Security Actor' (2014). I am currently engaged in the debate on Europe's refugee and migrant crisis, and the future of humanitarian action, with op-eds for Reuters, policy briefs for SAIIA and a research article for the George C Marshal Centre, as well as talks and keynote speeches at academic gatherings. This debate will remain lively in the foreseeable future. Findings from my journal articles and book (and presented in other outputs related to the book) are feeding into this debate, both in academic and policy circles. Policy/societal impact: Asylum and migration flows continue to be viewed as dangerously out of control in many parts of the world. The user-friendly dissemination of research that do not hide the challenges posed by migration, but presents them in a measured and contextualised manner, and that refutes exaggerations and alarmism through high-quality research, is as important as ever. |
| Sectors | Government, Democracy and Justice,Security and Diplomacy |
| Description | I have provided below an excerpt from my Impact Report for this research project, submitted to the ESRC in December 2013. But before getting to this, it should be noted that the impact from this research project continues. The year 2015 was the year when Europe's refugee and migrant crisis erupted, and I have as a result of my work on refugees and security, conducted with the help of this ESRC grant, become a regular media and think tank contributor on how Europe can and should respond to its migration challenges. I have contributed op-eds for Reuters, and been an expert commentator on Al Jazeera English. I have also written articles and policy briefs on Europe's migrant and refugee crisis for influential think tanks such as the George C Marshal Centre and the South African Institute of International Affairs. In 2018 I have been approached by the Global Public Policy Institute and the Robert Bosch Foundation to be a Senior Fellow in their 2018 Global Governance Futures Fellowship programme, to guide and challenge the 2018 GGF fellows work on global migration and refugee challenges. Excerpt from 2013 Impact Statement to ESRC: Economic and Societal Impact My research contributes to a more nuanced, better informed, less alarmist understanding of displacement. It belongs to a body of research aimed at a more measured, historically grounded understanding of why displacement happens; how states respond to it; the consequences for hosts and sending states of these responses; and how to avoid or ameliorate displacement's potential security challenges. With other academics working to improve public understanding (and thus reduce fear) of migration's relationship to conflict and insecurity, my impact activities have fed into the recent trend of (some) governments and international organisations becoming more careful in how they frame the migration debate. This is, however, an ongoing task. The research highlights how securitisation of displacement can be counterproductive and compound insecurity. Through policy briefings, op-ed pieces, workshops, personal interaction with representatives of UNHCR, NGOs and diaspora groups, and advising journalists, I have contributed to challenging conventional wisdom on 'migration threats' and improving the quality of the public migration debate. I showed how UNHCR's adoption of a security discourse facilitated its rise as a dominant humanitarian actor, but also undermined the international refugee protection regime. My interactions with UNHCR officials on securitisation's unintended consequences were a small contributing factor to the agency gradually abandoning this security discourse. In South Africa, my research contributed to the quality of the public debate by setting out how South Africa's dysfunctional immigration and asylum system compounds anti-migrant tensions. It impacted on perceptions of the (potential) political role played by the Zimbabwean diaspora, both in South Africa and Zimbabwe. In discussions with Zimbabwean diaspora and opposition MDC activists, I brought to attention the issue of diaspora voting rights. Diaspora groups later began campaigning for this. Findings and outputs that had the economic and societal impact(s): 1) UNHCR and refugee politics: My book chapter 'UNHCR and the securitisation of forced migration' (OUP, 2011) and book 'The rise and decline of a global security actor' (OUP, February 2014) investigate why UNHCR's efforts to forge a humane, refugee-friendly security discourse were unsuccessful. Human security arguments did not lead to improved refugee protection, but contributed instead to a widespread trend of treating displacement as a political, social, economic and environmental security challenge. Impact from this research also occurred through person-to-person interactions with UNHCR officials. My January 2012 op-ed piece for Reuters AlertNet, 'Questioning the Conflict Link', was part of a broad and relatively successful effort by migration and displacement scholars to counteract poorly founded alarmist reports by environmental groups on the relationship between climate change, migration and conflict. My June 2014 op-ed piece for Reuters AlertNet, and my OUP blog piece from July 2014 discussed the UN's global consultations on humanitarian action and suggested that humanitarianism is in a deep political and ideological crisis. 2) Diaspora politics and migration policy in South Africa: My article 'Securitisation from Below' (2012) shows that while foreign policy elites mostly ignored Zimbabwean migration, Home Affairs officials reflected and fuelled xenophobic grassroot sentiments. The lack of communication between immigration and foreign affairs officials, combined with weak policy making capacity at the Department of Home Affairs, created a permissive environment for xenophobic violence, and reduced SA's leverage vis-a-vis Zimbabwe. These findings were disseminated to policy audiences in two policy briefings (2011 and 2012) published by SAIIA, and in two workshops, in 2011 at University of Kent ('African Agency') and 2012 at SAIIA in Johannesburg ('Foreign Policy Starts at Home'). The 2012 workshop targeted directly South African Home Affairs and Foreign Affairs officials. Impact also occurred through interviews and informal interactions with representatives of Zimbabwean diaspora organisations and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. Please outline how these impacts were achieved: Rather than a stand-alone effect, my interactions with UNHCR officials fed into existing concerns about 'talking security' for an organisation mandated to protect refugee rights. My research recognises UNHCR's need to be pragmatic and relevant to state interests, in contrast to some of the critiques by refugee lawyers and activists. This made impact more likely: The research showed UNHCR's leadership that even from a pragmatic viewpoint, the strategy of relying on a security discourse worked poorly in the anti-migrant atmosphere after 9/11. Zimbabweans in South Africa: Two policy briefing papers were accompanied by a workshop at SAIIA in September 2012. Intensive efforts to convince aloof SA officials to attend bore fruit: Directors from the Departments of Home Affairs (DHA) and International Cooperation (DIRCO) came together for constructive, off-the-record discussion with selected NGO representatives on how South Africa can make the most out of its Zimbabwean diaspora - both domestically and to strengthen Zimbabwe's democratisation. Participants agreed it was a useful, uniquely well-attended forum for exchanges of viewpoints. DHA and DIRCO directors conceded they usually hardly spoke to each other, let alone NGOs. One DHA director declared that he would feed the workshop discussion into the new draft Immigration White Paper. A palpable impact was the decision by some workshop participants to plan similar events to continue the dialogue. Diaspora voting rights: During field work in Johannesburg, I found myself functioning as an informal consultant for poorly resourced diaspora organisations on the issue of diaspora voting rights. I pointed out to MDC opposition representatives that the democratic deficit created by 1-3 million voting-age Zimbabweans living in South Africa had been neglected. My interventions in September 2010 were among the earliest inputs into a diaspora voting rights campaign that started soon after. Please outline who the findings and outputs had an impact upon: Research findings on UNHCR form part of a general thrust of academic research counteracting poorly founded fears of 'migration threats'. As part of this effort, I contributed to convincing UNHCR policy makers to reduce the agency's use of the language of security to justify interventions to assist refugees. Research findings on Zimbabwean immigration impacted on DIRCO and DHA officials participating in my 2012 Johannesburg workshop. Anonymous feedback forms were uniformly positive. Officials appreciated interaction with civil society groups in a non-confrontational, off-the-record setting - in contrast to the usually distrustful relationship between government and civil society in South Africa. But officials particularly valued meeting colleagues in other departments; DHA and DIRCO directors confessed never to interact on migration issues. Since my research highlighted the contradiction between foreign and migration policy aims, this bringing together of DHA and DIRCO directors could only be beneficial. One DHA official suggested he would feed workshop discussions into the new immigration white paper. My research is prominently cited on the blog/email newsletter of Rob Turrell, policy advisor for DHA (http://saknowledgesquared.blogspot.com). It also shaped how immigration policy was covered by SAIIA, a South African opinion leader. Research on the Zimbabwean diaspora: In meetings with Zimbabwean diaspora groups, and particularly in talks at a closed 2010 Economist conference in Johannesburg with MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai's press team, I discussed issues of diaspora voting rights. I gave examples from other post-conflict countries, where including diasporas were seen as crucial for the legitimacy and sustainability of the democratisation process. The MDC and diaspora representatives took a strong interest, some remarking that they had not thought of this. Later in 2010 campaigning began for diaspora voting rights ahead of the 2013 Zimbabwe election. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2010 |
| Sector | Government, Democracy and Justice,Security and Diplomacy |
| Impact Types | Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | COST Action on Climate Change and Migration |
| Organisation | European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) |
| Country | Belgium |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | I contributed, together with a group of 10-12 European academic colleagues, to developing the proposal for this COST action, and I was on the managing committee of the action, representing the UK, from 2010 to Jun 2014. |
| Collaborator Contribution | COST IS1101 Climate change and migration: knowledge, law and policy and theory aims to build a broad body of social science research concerning climate change and migration. The Action was officially launched in October 2011 and came into effect on 1 January 2012. It ran for four years. |
| Impact | PLease see the COST action website for information on workshops, conferences and other outputs resulting from this EU-wide partnership: http://www.climatemigration.eu/ |
| Start Year | 2011 |
| Description | African agency : transnational security challenges : migration, health and climate change: One day workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Type Of Presentation | workshop facilitator |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | One-day workshop, which I organised and chaired at the Conflict Analysis Research Centre at the University of Kent, Canterbury, on 16 June 2011. The workshop was part of a seminar series under the aegis of the BISA Africa and International Studies working group. I convened the third seminar in the series. The aim was to bring practitioners and researchers together to explore new security issues in sub-Saharan Africa. The aim of this seminar was to reflect on the role for African Agency in transnational security challenges, in particular health, migration and climate change. This discussion is part of a larger debate on the widening security agenda from traditional to new security risks. Rather than focus on how such problems pose threats to the West, the aim of this seminar was to focus on sub-Saharan Africa, where these transnational challenges are more directly felt. The main questions posed to the seminar's participants were therefore: How do African actors themselves deal with the threats caused by diseases such as HIV/AIDS; environmental stress caused by climate change; and migration flows and displacement within the continent? To what extent have outside actors determined African agendas in these areas? What does 'African agency' look like, how is it facilitated and to what extent does the enhancement of African agency lead to African countries being better able to deal with these challenges? In addition to these questions about agency, the seminar participants also questioned the degree to which migration/displacement, climate change and health should be viewed as security challenges at all, and whether viewing them through a security prism may not lead to overly simplified and bellicose responses. The 25 speakers and participants were invited due to their particular expertise and interest in these areas, whether as researchers, commentators, policy makers or practitioners. The seminar series resulted in one edited book and one special issue in a journal. The special issue on 'African Agency in a Changing Security Environment', edited by Danielle Beswick and Anne Hammerstad, is available on the Conflict, Security and Development journal website. The book, 'African Agency in International Politics', edited by William Brown and Sophie Harman (2013), is available from the Routledge website. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2011 |
| URL | http://www.open.ac.uk/socialsciences/bisa-africa/african-agency/seminar3.php |
| Description | Expert interview on Al Jazeera English on Europe's migration crisis |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I was interviewed as a refugee and migration expert by Al Jazeera English for a current affairs programme on Syrian refugees in Lebanon and Europe. The interview lasted around 15 minutes, on the programme Inside Story, broadcast on 12 January 2012. My task was to place the Syrian refugee crisis in a broader picture of record migration and refugee levels worldwide. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2016/01/syrians-lebanon-160112193647928.html |
| Description | Guest lecture at Oxford University Refugee Studies Centre |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | It was a guest lecture for the International Summer School on Forced Migration at the Refugee Studies Centre at Oxford University. The lecture discussed the security implications of displacement and asylum flows. The audience/summer school participants are highly international in their make-up. They are mostly early/mid career professional practitioners in UN agencies and INGOs, as well as som graduate and post-graduate students. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | https://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/study/international-summer-school |
| Description | Guest lecture at RSC Summer School 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I was invited to give one of the core guest lectures at the Refugee Studies Centre's annual summer school for practitioners in the field of migration and displacement. The summer school is well-known and much-sought after for early- to mid-career UN and other practitioners dealing with displacement and refugee issues. My talk, on the security implications of forced migration, generated many questions and animated debate, and requests for follow-up discussions. I was invited back to lecture on the same topic in 2016. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/study/international-summer-school/teaching |
| Description | Guest lecturer at the Oxford University Refugee Studies Centre's Summer School for practicioners |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I gave a 90 minute lecture with Q&A to around 70-80 students attending the Refugee Studies Centre's annual Summer School in forced migration. The students were mostly mid-career professional practitioners with the UN or NGO humanitarian organisations or refugee advocacy groups, plus some policy makers. The audience is highly international in its make-up. The talk was on how to understand and tackle the security problems that can arise when people are displaced, particularly the reactions of host communities and states to large influxes of refugee movements. The talk gave a new, challenging perspective on the topic compared to the traditional outlook of humanitarian practitioners. It sparked a lively debate. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | How Western politicians are playing into Islamic State's hands - Op-ed article for Reuters |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Op-ed article published by Reuters on 19 November 2015, entitled 'How Western politicians are playing into Islamic State's hands'. The article looked at the panicked response to the Syrian refugee influx after one of the perpetrators of the Paris attacks killing 130 people in November 2015 was found with a Syrian passport. The article shows how few asylum seekers - and even fewer resettled refugees - commit terror offences. It does not attempt to reject all security concerns connected with the large and chaotic influx of asylum seekers into Europe, but suggests better, more measured and effective, ways in which to avoid the migrant trail becoming a backdoor to Europe for terrorists. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/11/19/how-western-politicians-are-playing-into-islamic-st... |
| Description | Interviewed on Al Jazeera's 'Inside Story' on the Syrian refugee crisis |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | I gave an in-depth interviewed as expert commentator on Al Jazeera's news analysis programme 'Inside Story'. The story related to Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and the challenges for refugee hosting countries in hosting large numbers of refugees. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
| URL | http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/insidestory/2016/01/syrians-lebanon-160112193647928.html |
| Description | Linking South Africa's immigration challenge and its Zimbabwe policy: Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | This was a one-day workshop which I organised and hosted at the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA), in Johannesburg. The workshop was aimed at policy makers in the Department of Home Affairs (DHA) and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO), as well as South African civil society and advocacy organisations focusing on immigration and Zimbabwe policy. The aim was to bring together these actors, who hardly ever interact unless to criticise each other, in a Chatham House rules setting, where they could engage in constructive dialogue. The topics were what to do about South Africa's poorly functioning immigration regime; whether Zimbabweans represented a 'special immigration case'; and how South Africa's foreign and immigration policies could be better aligned. The event had excellent participation of ca 25 representatives from DHA and DIRCO, and selected civil society organisations. The debate was lively and constructive, and set the stage for further such events organised by some of the civil society representatives present at the workshop. The feedback from workshop participants was positive. One DHA participant suggested he would feed information from the workshop into the DHA's work on its next Immigration Policy white paper. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
| Description | Op-ed article on Calais migrants for SAIIA Aug 2015 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | An op-ed piece for the South African Institute of International Affairs, entitled 'Calais migrants: A microcosmos of a misunderstood crisis' and published on 24 August 2015. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://www.saiia.org.za/opinion-analysis/calais-migrants-a-microcosm-of-a-misunderstood-crisis |
| Description | Talk on India as a humanitarian actor to ICRC delegation in Delhi |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | On 5 November 2014, I was invited to give a talk at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) delegation in Delhi. The talk, entitled 'Saving the Saviours: A Humanitarian Regime Under Attack' looked at the many challenges, both practical and normative, facing humanitarian organisations in their attempts at providing relief to victims of armed conflict. The talk focused also on India as a humanitarian actor and the opportunities and difficulties for international humanitarian organisations such as the ICRC and UNHCR presented by India's emergence on the global stage as a humanitarian actor. The audience of humanitarian practitioners, western diplomats and Indian policy makers asked a lot of questions, and generated further debate on the issue. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
| URL | http://blogs.icrc.org/new-delhi/2014/10/31/icrc-announces-humanitarian-tiffin-talk-iii-on-saving-the... |
| Description | We have been here before: Op-ed piece for Reuters |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Op-ed article published on 10 September 2015 by Reuters, entitled 'Lessons for dealing with today's migrant crisis from the last one'. The aim of the article, which reaches a large international audience, was to show that Europe's handling of its refugee and migration crisis is counterproductive, and history can show us better, more cooperative ways of resolving refugee crisis. THe article looks in particular at the world's response to the Vietnamese boat people in the 1980s. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
| URL | http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2015/09/10/lessons-for-dealing-with-todays-migrant-crisis-from... |