The world’s system for protecting refugees is broken. This is evident from Australia’s vast camps to the streets of Istanbul and beyond. It’s also apparent from the reluctance of advanced countries to welcome refugees, even as they close their borders and deflect blame. Moreover, the refugee crisis has highlighted the limits of existing international and regional legal instruments to protect people displaced by violence.
The current refugee crisis began slowly, building on decades of small displacement flows due to mainly localized conflicts and wars. But it gained momentum through the 1990s with a series of major, protracted conflicts. By the 2000s, the global refugee population had risen to more than 10 million and was on the rise.
In addition to providing the bare necessities of life, refugees need access to education, employment, and other public services. Unfortunately, the protracted nature of most conflict-driven displacement means that host communities are often forced to share limited resources with refugee communities for years and decades on end. The result is that refugee families have only minimal opportunities to work legally and are susceptible to exploitation.
One way to address this is through refugee resettlement, which can give refugees a path to citizenship and a chance to contribute socially and economically in their new home. Brookings Nonresident Senior Fellow Shibley Telhami and others have advocated for a “safe and responsible pathway to refugee resettlement” that includes the involvement of national voluntary agencies, such as Church World Service, Episcopal Migration Ministries, Jewish Immigrant Aid Society, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service, and the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, among others.