Refugees are among the groups of people affected by displacement. There are more than 35 million refugees worldwide among 108 million displaced people. Approximately a fifth of them – seven million – live in refugee camps. From Turkey to Zimbabwe, Jordan to Colombia, humanitarian organisations are responsible for the care of people displaced by conflict, natural disaster, and persecution. Victims of the wars in Ukraine and Syria, of revolution and civil conflicts, find themselves seeking a haven away from home. Some of the people and the events which caused them to trek sometimes thousands of miles from home are well known – such as earthquakes in Haiti and Iran, flooding in Pakistan, and the Indian Ocean tsunami. The media gravitate towards these events, thrusting them into the public consciousness and provoking global fundraising. But these events and the resultant responses account for only around three per cent of humanitarian response efforts. In my work, I look at the ‘forgotten crises’ – complex emergencies such as conflicts, political crises and disasters that are at the intersection of climate change and economic instability. These account for the bulk of the humanitarian effort, but they receive little attention. That lack of the spotlight affects funding and leaves them with fewer resources. Given the upward trend in displacement and, subsequently, increasing refugee numbers, organisations must innovate and adapt to best serve the needs of those in their camps. My work looks at how that can be done. HURDLES TO CLEAR My interest started with looking at how you can make humanitarian operations more efficient. Over time, I have come to realise there are political, social, and legal underpinnings to be considered. For instance, in Myanmar it can be difficult getting your goods to the Rohingya people, because the government has an interest in excluding them. This is a political obstacle. In terms of legal difficulties, regulations can affect timely delivery of assistance and even prevent operations from taking off. Often, this is because they tend to have a blanket approach, and rarely are exceptions made. Humanitarian organisations spend a great deal of time dealing with embargos imposed on conflict-afflicted countries which can include export and financial assistance bans. Even if such sanctions explicitly make exceptions for humanitarian purposes, they may not go far enough. Socially, if we are in a place where there is a negative sentiment to refugees, it is hard for aid organisations to get support. In some places, it is to the point that they struggle to recruit staff, because people do not want to be affiliated with an organisation helping marginalised groups. MORE THAN SAVING LIVES A second area of my work considers that most refugees end up stuck in the same place for a long time. But humanitarian assistance is meant to keep you alive. As such, they have one-year cycles. If you are there for 30 years, you live the same year 30 times. It is like being stuck in a time capsule. For example, in my home country of Zimbabwe there are more than 15,000 refugees and asylum seekers – the vast majority from the Democratic Republic 36 |
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