A Prescription for the Future

It is clear that protection alone is inadequate to meet refugees’ needs; refugees require solutions. What is needed is a global governance structure for refugees, and this structure would have several goals. First and foremost, it requires recognizing the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol as the cornerstone of the international protection regime and fully and effectively implementing those instruments. The best way to avoid refugee issues would be to address the causes of refugee flows and implement preventive strategies, such as promoting respect for human rights and developing democratic structures. These strategies can be accomplished in part by anchoring refugee issues within national and regional development agendas that include providing durable solutions. In solving already-existing refugee issues, states must demonstrate a willingness to fulfill their obligations toward refugees in a true spirit of international solidarity and to assist other states in strengthening their protection capacities. By strengthening voluntary repatriation, local integration, and resettlement, the global structure will prevent refugees from remaining in degrading conditions in camps or from being exploited by criminal networks if they try to find safety and more durable protection possibilities in countries further afield.

By emphasizing both protection and solutions, the structure allows refugees to start a new life with dignity. In recognizing and respecting refugees as individuals who, through self-reliance, will be able to adapt to their new environments and work toward their own goals, more long-lasting solutions to the problem can be achieved. Increasingly, burden- and responsibility-sharing have become the keys to aiding refugees. If all countries lived up to their obligations concerning refugees, there would be no burden-sharing problems, but countries are not prepared to live up to those obligations unless arrangements are in place. We must, then, work to achieve a productive symbiosis between refugee-hosting countries and donor countries. At the same time, refugees should not be seen solely as a burden or as a risk; they can be valuable citizens. We must therefore create a coalition among governments, civil society, and transnational companies to foster and sustain respect for refugees. Rather than marginalize refugees, we must find ways to empower them so they can contribute to our societies. If the history of the international refugee-protection regime highlights anything, it is that refugee protection is not an ossified set of legal edicts but a dynamic approach to respond better to new conditions and challenges. It is really about human-rights based governance in a globalizing world.