Refugees

Personal testimony by survivors of genocide or persecution has long constituted the gold standard for learning about human-inflicted tragedy. The physical presence of a survivor captivates audiences and lends immediacy to catastrophes that seem both unfathomable but also eminently repeatable. The Holocaust looms large as an example. The most aggressive efforts at preserving live testimony have centered on assembling archives of video testimonies. This transformation of live testimony into a different medium generates two key questions:
1. What value can personal testimony have when disembodied and presented in a medium more manipulable by the audience (via editing, selective viewing, etc.)?
2. How can mediated survivor testimonies serve as tools for preventing and counteracting prejudice?

As survivors of genocides pass away, their firsthand testimonies increasingly will be accessible primarily through video archives. The preservation of memory through video archives also exacts a price. Once a survivor’s testimony enters the archive, it risks becoming ossified as a static monument. The video preserves the definitive record not only of that survivor’s life, but it also endures as an instantiation of archetypal narrative templates that channel perceptions into familiar storylines. As these narrative patterns become embedded as expectations, they risk obscuring or marginalizing the complex panoply of ways the survivors dealt with their situations.

This project takes Holocaust survivor testimonies as its point of departure in assessing the pedagogical challenges and opportunities of video testimonies. Discussions focus on three types of mediated testimony: early non-fiction televised chronicles of Holocaust survivors (particularly the first appearance of a survivor, on the 1953 U.S. television series This Is Your Life); archival video testimonies; and “unsettled testimony” consisting of less structured, first-person testimonies that reveal the challenges of discursive representation. The final category includes testimonies of Holocaust survivors independently recorded by the author. Each type of testimony offers distinct advantages and limitations in reducing prejudice and increasing productive engagement with the global immigration crises that many politicians continue to foment into nativism and xenophobia.

Critical examination of each medium of testimony leads to recommendations regarding how to provide more thorough, nuanced understanding of refugees and immigrants in the present. Testimony from immigrants could put into practice several key lessons gleaned from Holocaust survivor testimony. At the micronarrative level, individual testimonies can provide counterexamples to categorical generalizations about immigrants. Attention at this level focuses on providing detailed context and background to demonstrate how immigrants do not necessarily align with how they are categorized by media and politicians. At the mesonarrative level, the diversity of narratives can activate themes and characterizations absent or suppressed in collective portrayals of immigrants. Metanarrative testimony reframes immigrants by offering new narratives that can reframe the role of immigrants in society, suggesting storylines that treat immigrants as contributors rather than invaders.

The European Union is facing with difficulty the management of migrant flows, above all of asylum seekers. According to the principle of solidarity and responsibility sharing, Member States are demanded a huge collaboration. However, some of them (the Visegard Group) have adopted a set of policies in conflict with the European Union’s approach on migration. Since 2015, Hungary, with its legal developments, has seriously undermined human rights and the right to asylum, in violation of international and EU law. Alarmed by the March 2017’s Asylum law, below discussed in detail, the aim of the Brief is to underline the illegitimacy of the measures contained in the Act. Supported by some Reports drawn up by UNHCR, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee and Amnesty International, this document focuses on illegal return, detention and push back of migrants and asylum seekers who arrive in the ‘Transit Zones’. To highlight the unlawfulness of actual Hungary’s legal framework on asylum, a reference is also made to the recent jurisprudential developments of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and to judgements handed down by Member States’ national Courts. In the final part of the Brief it is strongly suggested to Hungary to set remedy to EU and international law violations, and are also underlined the consequences that may emerge if the State would perpetrate its unlawful behaviour.

Millions of Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion are met with open arms in Europe. This has not always been the case for people forced to leave their homes. This rare showing of solidarity sparked a debate on the EU’s responses to refugees, with critical voices raising the issue of racist double standards. Indeed, not so long ago, most European states were quite apprehensive, and many were outright hostile towards Syrians during ‘Europe’s migration crisis’. However, these arguments, important as they may be, miss a crucial point: states instrumentalise population movements for political purposes. The struggle for power between the USA and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was a key parameter in refugee politics in the post-WW2 era. And as the world rollbacks to another Cold War, geopolitical considerations and power politics are taking again the front seat in state responses to forced displacement. In Cold War refugee politics, race becomes a ‘moldable’ concept.

Τα τελευταία χρόνια εκδηλώθηκαν με τρόπο εκρηκτικό τα αδιέξοδα της ευρωπαϊκής πολιτικής για το μεταναστευτικό και το προσφυγικό ζήτημα. Η μαζική εισροή προσφύγων και μεταναστών σε ευρωπαϊκό έδαφος προκάλεσε μια αναδιοργάνωση της ευρωπαϊκής πολιτικής, η οποία ωστόσο παραμένει εγκλωβισμένη στο δίλημμα μεταξύ συνοριακής ασφάλειας και ανθρωπισμού. Αφουγκραζόμενοι/ες τις εκπαιδευτικές επιταγές αλλά και τις κοινωνικές συνθήκες γενικότερα στην νέα αυτή συγκυρία, στο Εργαστήρι Κοινωνικών και Μεταναστευτικών Σπουδών του Πανεπιστημίου Δυτικής Μακεδονίας, διοργανώσαμε τον Μάιο του 2018 διημερίδα με τίτλο «Αλισάχνες: το αποτύπωμα της προσφυγικής εμπειρίας». Στον συλλογικό αυτό τόμο συμπεριλάβαμε τις επιστημονικές ανακοινώσεις που εστιάζουν σε ζητήματα μετανάστευσης, ασύλου, ευρωπαϊκής νομοθεσίας, εκπαιδευτικών πολιτικών, γλωσσικής έκφρασης και παρουσίασης των επίμαχων θεμάτων στον Τύπο, αλλά και σε έρευνες πεδίου πάνω σε ζητήματα εκπαίδευσης προσφύγων σε δομές φιλοξενίας και σχολεία.

Europe is currently experiencing a "refugee crisis", demonstrated by millions of displaced people unseen since World War II. This book examines the interface between the EU's response to irregular flows, in particular the main extraterritorial border and migration controls taken by the Member States, and the rights asylum seekers acquire from EU law.

"Remote control" techniques, such as the imposition of visas, fines on carriers transporting unsatisfactorily documented third-country nationals, and interception at sea are investigated in detail in a bid to assess the impact these measures have on access to asylum in the EU. The book also thoroughly analyses the rights recognised by the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights to persons in need of international protection, inclusive of the principle of non-refoulement, the right to leave any country including one's own, the right to asylum, and the right to remedies and effective judicial protection.

The fundamental focus of the book is the relationship between the aforementioned border and migration controls and the rights of asylum seekers and, most importantly, how these rights (should) limit the scope of such measures and the ways in which they are implemented. The ultimate goal is to conclude whether the current series of extraterritorial mechanisms of pre-entry vetting is compatible in EU law with the EU rights of forced migrants.

Jacques Derrida nos convida a refletir sobre a Universidade Incondicional que não existe, mas pode ser inventada como um lugar de resistência e crítica, com a capacidade desafiadora de transformar questões apropriadas por saberes dogmáticos e se opor a um grande número de poderes que limitam o horizonte democrático.
Essa universidade heterogênea e frágil, independente e perturbadora, em permanente desconstrução e renascimento, só poderá ser engendrada se contar com aqueles que professam a condição instável de não se conformar, e de resistir cotidianamente aos poderes que a sitiam.
Derrida explora os fundamentos da universidade incondicional na busca da verdade não acabada, que está por vir e seu valor, referindo-se ao direito primordial de dizer tudo, publicamente, de publicar, ainda que seja sob a forma de ficção ou experimentação.
A universidade incondicional se constitui por trabalhos que gestam acontecimentos, zombam do performativo dogmático, reverberam, desconstroem e abrem espaços para o debate, para a dúvida, a dissidência, muito além do saber e saber fazer, lançando-se no campo do que está por definir.
Orientada por esses compromissos e munida desses instrumentos, a universidade tem obstáculos a enfrentar entre eles a soberania e seus avatares: “A desconstrução do conceito de soberania incondicional é sem dúvida necessária e está em curso, pois trata-se de uma herança de uma teologia que mal acabou de ser secularizada.”(DERRIDA, 2003, p. 22).
O fio condutor da desconstrução da soberania, segundo Derrida, atravessa “performativos jurídicos”, ou “produções performativas do direito (direito do homem, conceito do crime contra a humanidade)” para substituí-los pela invenção, o dom, o perdão, a hospitalidade a justiça, a amizade (DERRIDA, 2003, p. 73). Derrida afirma que esses “motivos” estão no centro de suas publicações e seminários dos últimos quinze anos de sua jornada filosófica. (DERRIDA, 2003, p. 78).
O dom, a amizade, o perdão, a justiça e a hospitalidade põem em questão o humano, o homem, a humanidade, o humanismo. A hospitalidade sem limitações vem orientada pela ideia que o humano que chega é diferente do outro que o recebe em sua terra. É estranho, estrangeiro, mas mesmo assim humano, que espera a hospitalidade incondicional e se depara com a hospitalidade condicionada, obturada pelo performativo jurídico do direito humanitário, do direito internacional, seus conceitos e instrumentos jurídicos e burocráticos dos Estados.

The number of forcibly-displaced people in the world now exceed 65 million, due primarily to violent conflict, persecution, and natural disasters. This course examines the hardships most refugees face during their journeys, in the process of resettlement and integration, and after return. It introduces students to the policies that govern the protection of and assistance to refugees, and the humanitarian responses by international organizations, nation-states, local governments, NGOs, and others in an effort to alleviate their suffering. The course also discusses the future challenges, such as climate-induced displacement.

"We live in a scenario of serious threats to human rights generated by armed conflict and persecutions of different nature (...). Reading this book is a way to rise important reflexions in the area of refugee and forced migration studies." Jose Egas, UNHCR Brazil's Representative (Foreword).

The question of whether arbitrary deprivation of nationality constitutes persecution for the purposes of a determination of refugee status has received increased attention in recent jurisprudence. However, no systematic argument has been made to date on the ordinary meaning of words, context, object and purpose of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees as it applies to stateless refugees. This is an important question because the absence of determination procedures and a protection regime specifically for stateless persons in many jurisdictions makes refugee and/or complementary protection the only options. This article examines existing landmark judicial decisions worldwide, relevant UN documents , and academic writing on whether arbitrary deprivation of nationality, either on its own or when taken with other forms of harm, amounts to persecution within the meaning of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Refugee Convention, and if so on what grounds. It concludes by suggesting when (arbitrary) deprivation of nationality should lead to a finding of persecution, based on good practice, and points to a global consensus on a new rights perspective concerning nationality.

Sous la direction de Michel Agier, avec la collaboration de Clara Lecadet et les contributions de Hala Caroline Abou Zaki Marc Bernardot Tristan Bruslé Pierre Centlivres Olivier Clochard Alice Corbet Kamel Doraï Jean-Louis Edogué Agnès de Geoffroy François Gemenne Manuel Herz Sandi Hilal Alexander Horstmann Bram Jansen David Lagarde Clara Lecadet Pedro Neto Martin Olivera Alessandro Petti Sara Prestianni Nicolas Puig Stellio Rolland Anooradha Siddiqi Louise Tassin Simon Turner Hélène Thiollet Eyal Weizman.

Les camps se multiplient et se banalisent partout sur la planète. Ils sont aujourd’hui des milliers, dessinant peu à peu un nouveau paysage mondial. Gouvernements nationaux et agences internationales adoptent de plus en plus systématiquement cette solution pour « regrouper » les réfugiés humanitaires, pour « parquer », faire « transiter », « retenir » ou mettre à l’écart les « déplacés » et les migrants, les « clandestins » et autres indésirables. Douze millions de personnes vivent dans ces camps, des millions d’autres dans des campements de fortune, au creux des forêts, dans les interstices des villes, le long des frontières ; d’autres encore sont piégés dans des centres de rétention, des zones d’attente ou de transit. Si ces « hors-lieux » sont des espaces de parias, nombre d’entre eux s’inscrivent dans la durée et se transforment au fil du temps : la vie s’y renouvelle, s’y attache, et l’emporte le plus souvent sur la mort ou le dépérissement.
En vingt-cinq monographies (qui nous font faire un tour du monde des camps, du plus ancien à Chatila au Liban, au plus grand à Dadaab au Kenya, regroupant 450 000 habitants, en passant par le plus informel à Canaan en Haïti ou le plus précaire à Calais), cet ouvrage fait découvrir la vie intime et quotidienne de leurs habitants. Loin d’être l’« exception » que l’on évoque généralement dans un cadre humanitaire ou sécuritaire pour en justifier l’existence, les camps font durablement partie des espaces et des sociétés qui composent le monde aujourd’hui. Dans ces lieux s’inventent de nouveaux modèles sociaux, à côté ou au-delà du périmètre des États-nations, qui préfigurent peut-être de nouvelles formes de citoyenneté mondiale.

In this study, the role of information obtained from social media in shaping the perception of truth and the tendency of people to seek real information are investigated through the interaction of Syrians under temporary protection in Turkey and their colleagues is investigated through the interaction of Syrians under temporary protection in Turkey and their colleagues. Data were collected by literature review, document analysis, ethnographic observation, interview and questionnaire methods. The obtained data were analyzed by descriptive analysis method. In addition, the social media accounts of local employees were analyzed by content analysis method. Data sets obtained from different sources were analyzed at a descriptive level and original results were obtained. As a result of this research carried out in a bag fabric in Ulus, Ankara; It has been determined that the structural, functional and contextual features of social media strengthen the post-truth thinking, emotions have remarkable effects on the perception of reality, and social media content, which is considered to be low in credibility, has offline effects. Especially when it comes to immigrants, content that triggers negative emotions is widely circulated on social media. Feelings of injustice and anger are triggered by local employees who believe in fake news on social media. These feelings prevent these people from seeking the truth. On the other hand, there is a sense of compassion among local workers who are least affected by fake news, and they do not want to seek the truth about Syrian migrants with the effect of this feeling. Emotions are one of the most important obstacles to the search for truth. In addition, social media is more effective at recognizing Syrian migrants than face-to-face communication.

States have increasingly moved away from refugee protection, intensifying the vulnerability of refugees and asylum-seekers. Drawing on theories of norm dynamics within International Relations (IR), this article argues that departures from refugee protection can be partly explained by the weakness of the normative principles governing the treatment of individuals fleeing persecution. Ambiguities, diverging interpretations, and varying levels of codification complicate efforts to hold states accountable to a complex bundle of human rights standards surrounding refugee and asylum protection. These weaknesses in the international refugee regime bolster norm-evading behavior wherein governments deliberately minimize their obligations while claiming technical compliance. Drawing on an analysis of US refugee and asylum policies under the Trump administration, the article reveals how norm evasion and accountability challenges emerge in the context of ambiguous standards vis-à-vis non-refoulement, non-detention, non-penalization, non-discrimination, and refugee responsibility-sharing. In response to global forced displacement-including an estimated 25 million refugees-governments have increasingly closed borders, detained and repatriated asylum-seekers against their will, developed 'deterrence' and 'repulsion' techniques to prevent asylum-seekers from reaching their territories, and engaged in other practices undermining human rights principles regarding the treatment of individuals fleeing persecution and conflict. 1 The denial of entry by European ports to asylum-seekers-including sick children-stranded for weeks in the Mediterranean, the deaths of children detained along the US southern border, and drastic cuts to third-country refugee resettlement prompt challenging questions about the status of the international refugee and asylum regime. 2 Given the barrage of state practices contravening human rights principles governing the treatment of refugees and asylum-seekers, it is reasonable to question whether refugee protection norms are in crisis.

As fronteiras que distinguem o refugiado e o migrante estão sendo constantemente tensionadas por eventos diversos e por disputas ora mais evidentes, ora mais subterrâneas, dependendo das possibilidades de luta. O que hoje se convencionou chamar de crise global dos refugiados é, em grande parte, a tentativa mais atual de colocar em movimento os lugares que foram determinados desde cima pelas mais diferentes formas de violência. Quando os estados definem como "crise" a tentativa desesperada que milhões de pessoas fazem para fugir de guerras, perseguições e da miséria, a "crise" é então o signo utilizado para a operação que consiste em converter a luta pela vida em recomposição das relações de subordinação. Aqueles que ousaram transgredir os limites dos lugares estabelecidos, demandando direitos e mesmo a sua existência, serão responsabilizados como os agentes de uma crise mundial. Responsabilizados por abusarem das brechas legais, pelo aumento da criminalização, pelo "roubo" de empregos, pelo exaurimento dos recursos públicos, pelo terrorismo, etc. Resta saber o que escapa do esquema de classificações e o que foge das fronteiras, transbordando como fluxo de vida e criação, corpos, subjetividades e territórios nômades. A crise que nos interessa é este movimento levado adiante pelos sujeitos que decidiram enfrentar a violência das guerras e da miséria, produzindo sua fuga e produzindo a si mesmos neste gesto de fuga.

During the period February 2009-February 2012, the Office of Refugee Resettlement of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported 16 suicides among the approximately 57,000 Bhutanese refugees who had resettled in the United States since 2008. In 2012, the office requested assistance from CDC and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's Refugee Health Technical Assistance Center to identify risk factors that might be associated with suicidal ideation among Bhutanese refugees. In collaboration with the Massachusetts refugee health center, CDC conducted a survey of randomly selected Bhutanese refugees in four U.S. states with large populations of resettled refugees. The results indicated significant associations between ever having expressed suicidal ideation and current self-reported symptoms of mental health disorder (e.g., anxiety, depression, or posttraumatic stress disorder) and postmigration difficulties (e.g., family conflict or inability to find work). T...

Na terenie okupowanych Niemiec, a następnie w RFN, funkcjonowało wiele cennych i ważnych inicjatyw środowiska polskich uchodźców. Do grona najciekawszych i najcenniejszych można zaliczyć działalność Komitetu Obrony Solidarności/Towarzystwa Solidarność w Berlinie Zachod- nim, które prowadziło działalność wydawniczą, publicystyczną oraz wspierało podziemie soli- darnościowe w PRL. Wielopłaszczyznowa aktywność tej organizacji, mimo dużego znaczenia dla środowiska uchodźców oraz opozycji w PRL, pozostaje niesłusznie zapomnianą inicjatywą.

Right-wing populism in its relationship with the refugee movement was the topic of the roundtable organized by the UTE in the context of the Conflict Zones network programme. The attempt was to focus on the reactions registered all around Europe in response to the recent massive migration of the refugees. This direction was forced to encounter a moral and civil urgency: the whole debate had to be contextualized in the light of the horrible attacks that had taken place in Paris just the night before.

The tone of the conversation was set on a highly (though solid) theoretical level, rather than on a practical line of work. I tried to further investigate some aspects interviewing Chantal Mouffe, Professor of Political Theory at the University of Westminster, London.

Tomando como fio condutor eventos relativos ao programa de
Reassentamento Solidário de refugiados no Brasil, o artigo procura analisar como os princípios da solidariedade e da responsabilidade elaborados no âmbito de acordos internacionais são interpretados e ressignificados por atores situados em diferentes escalas de influência e participação na implementação das políticas de proteção e assistência a refugiados.

To estimate the frequency, type, and severity of psychological trauma among Bosnian refugee adolescents during the process of repatriation after the 1992-1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. A sample of 239 pupils (120 girls and 119 boys), with a mean age (+/-standard deviation) of 15.2+/-2.1 years were assessed for war traumatic events, acculturation and repatriation maladjustments, school behavioral problems, and presence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The sample consisted of adolescents who were in the process of repatriation after exile in a foreign country (n=120) and internally displaced adolescents (n=119). Adolescents who had been exposed to severe psychological war trauma still had high level of trauma more than three years after the end of war. The level of recalling traumas they experienced (mean+/-standard deviation=3.9+/-1.2 on a scale from 0 to 5) and frequency of PTSD symptoms (1.5+/-1.0 on a scale from 0-5) were significantly lower among repatriated than in...

In recent years national human rights institutions (NHRIs) have begun to bridge the long-standing gap between practice in the refugee and human rights fields. Often using their mandate as national preventive mechanisms under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, NHRIs visit refugees in detention as well as in other types of camp. This has been particularly marked among Balkan ombudsman institutions in their response to the recent mass influx of refugees.

Die Fluchtbewegung nach Europa legt schonungslos die Defizite des Europäischen Integrationsprojektes offen und den Unwillen der Mitgliedstaaten, Souveränität abzugeben. Daraus erwächst eine Krise im Hinblick auf die humanitäre Situation der Flüchtlinge, eine Krise der öffentlichen Verwaltungen, eine Krise der Gemeinsamen Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik der EU und letztlich der EU insgesamt. Statt auf widerstandsfähige, bindende Regeln zu ihrer Bewältigung setzt die EU vorrangig auf Externalisierungsstrategien. Zwingend erforderlich ist jedoch der effektive Schutz der EU-Außengrenzen, um Ein- und Ausreise zu regeln. Außerdem ist ein verbindlicher, krisenfester Mechanismus zur Verteilung für Flüchtlinge zu schaffen. Notfalls könnte man mit der Aufteilung unter den kooperationsbereiten Staaten beginnen und gleichzeitig Kooperationsunwillige sanktionieren.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) is a problem world-wide. Since it was identified; Western nations have implemented extensive SIDS education campaigns to reduce SIDS risk which have resulted in dramatically decreasing SIDS death rates. In contrast, there is little information available about the impact of SIDS in Middle East (ME) countries where high infant mortality is common. STo investigate SIDS incidence rates across various ME countries, ascertain specific SIDS risk factors relevant to ME populations, categorise high risk groups and identify SIDS intervention programs in the ME. A structured literature review was performed. A total of 10,509 study were identified with 11 proving to be most relevant to the research purpose. The SIDS incidence rates data available in ME countries is extremely limited with only five studies addressing SIDS rates in the ME. For a range of reasons, many infant deaths are registered as “cause unknown” with no associated autopsy report or other details. Additionally, limitations in the study designs restrict the ability to accurately estimate incidence rates from the research projects reported. The most significant risk factor for SIDS in ME countries identified in the literature is the high incidence of smoking, resulting from less political restrictions on smoking at home and public settings. Targeted public health SIDS education programs need to be developed and promoted in high risk ME countries with a specific focus on infant care practices, lifestyle and general living conditions.

The global refugee crisis reveals refugees and other forcibly displaced persons (FDP) are uniquely vulnerable consumers on a dynamic pathway precipitated by trigger events that have disrupted or fractured marketing systems requisite for safety and well-being, resulting in dangerous journeys to temporary or permanent settlements. The Syrian Conflict is introduced to contextualize the challenges along the pathway and to show that a more Humanitarian Marketing System, spanning time, space and other systems, brings opportunities for governments, NGOs and businesses to cooperate and to provide FDP with resources, which enhance connectedness, reduce vulnerabilities and suffering, illuminate good practices and enable FDP to flourish when resettled. The authors discuss research-opportunities to facilitate further understanding, to develop and repair marketing systems, and to enhance the well-being of FDP and other stakeholders of the crisis.

The Syrian crisis has generated the largest refugee movement since the Rwandan genocide and is described as the defining refugee crisis of our era. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Antonio Guterres, Syrian refugees are about to replace Afghans as the world’s largest refugee population. 1 Within this refugee population older, disabled and injured refugees face specific challenges that contribute to their vulnerability, yet, studies of humanitarian programming show that these same groups are often neglected in the assessment, data collection, design and delivery of responses. Therefore, in October and November 2013, Handicap International and HelpAge International undertook a research project to highlight the number and needs of Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon living with impairment, 2 injury 3 and chronic disease 4 – for the purposes of this study these groups are referred to as “people with specific needs”. Throughout the report specific consider...

While  nation-states  often  claim  that  refugees  threaten  their  political  and  territorial integrity, this chapter shows how the opposite can be true: sometimes states need refugees. In late 2014 and early 2015, when parts of Iraq and Syria were overtaken by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), people seeking refuge in semiautonomous Iraqi Kurdistan became central to the public story told about Kurdish sovereignty. Their ethnic or regional group affiliation determined their integration or rejection by the Kurdish authorities. For example, on the one hand, Anbari people were suspected of being ISIS supporters because of their regional origin. They found themselves the target of suspicion, even as they were provided with refugee status and aid. On the other hand, minorities such as Yazidi and Kurds were brought into camps that looked more like planned cities.Ultimately, refugee presence in Kurdistan reinforced a garrisoned security state. In the name of protecting refugees, Kurdistan received international humanitarian support, but also a major thrust of military expertise and supplies by which to enforce its borders. By 2017, the Pentagon signed an agreement to give the Kurdish army, known as the Peshmerga, US$415 million (Al Jazeera 2016), along with part of the US$13 billion it was spending in the fight against ISIS. Defining and placing refugees became a core alibi to the construction of a security state that held the potential of becoming a U.S.-backed independent Kurdistan.  This  was  ultimately  not  the  case,  and  the  United  States  quickly  withdrew its support for Kurdistan after ISIS was officially defeated. Nevertheless, the centrality of refugees in the story of a weak nation-state reveals insights about the political role of refugees more broadly, even for states whose status is less tenuous or less obviously linked to refugee protection.

This paper is an editorial essay, whose insights are informed by a study on the financial journeys of refugees conducted in Greece, Jordan, Turkey, and Denmark in July and August 20162. In this essay, we begin by providing a brief overview of financial inclusion and the “digital/formal” trends. We then proceed to discuss some particularities of displacement that affect refugees’ interaction with financial inclusion tools and systems. For each of these, we identify questions for the financial inclusion community to consider as it reflects on engagement with refugee populations.
Ultimately, this paper strays from formal financial inclusion frameworks which tend to delimit financial inclusion in terms of integrating customers into an existing digital or formal (hereon “digital/formal”) financial infrastructure. Instead, we examine the financial tasks that refugees and displaced populations must perform in order to survive and their strategies for navigating these processes while on the move.