Essays of Bruno and Friends

 

Thea and Bruno Johannsson

Plea for a global refugee policy based on solidarity. A contribution to the UN-conference series 2016-2018 about a compact on refugees Translation from the German by Hilary Teske

Considering more than 68 million people are fleeing, the continuing causes of persecution, conflict, violence and human rights violations and the growing significance of climate change as a cause of flight, there are urgent tasks to eliminate the current and possibly major future humanitarian catastrophe. Since this is a global phenomenon, it makes sense to look for a global solution. Nation states and groups of states such as the European Union can only perform piecemeal, even with the best of intentions. In addition, the richer states in particular tend to hold back or, like the European Union, are deeply divided and thus almost incapable of action.

 

Before considering a refugee policy objective, an understanding of the short- and medium-term framework conditions for refugee policy action is required. Within this timeframe, it must be assumed that the structure of the above-mentioned causes of flight will not change significantly. It would have to be clarified what influence climate change could have on flight movements in the medium and long term. The political structure of global society must also be considered stable in the medium term. Even if individual countries should converge towards democracy, it is highly likely that other countries will move away from it, so that the global democracy index will not change significantly. In addition to these natural and social conditions, there are also the sine qua non conditions set by the international community itself, such as the UN Charter of Human Rights and the Geneva Convention on Refugees. The sovereignty of all UN member states should also be a highly-rated principle, although there have already been restrictions in the past due to UN peacekeeping missions and similar measures.

 

The goal of a global refugee policy is multidimensional, i.e. as with almost all political tasks, it is a system of main and subsidiary goals. A relatively abstract overall goal is an increase in global welfare through refugee policy measures. Such a main goal serves as an orientation when it comes to solving conflicts where there are winners and losers.[1]  Subsidiary objectives are the saving of resources through early detection and repatriation of pseudo-refugees, better and more equal care for all genuine refugees, more equal load distribution among the host countries, the prevention of the loss of human capital in countries of origin and the fight against all forms of corruption and crime in connection with refugee processes. Unfortunately, in addition to synergies and compatibility, there are also conflicts between the subsidiary goals, the solution of which places the highest demands on international solidarity.

 

The UN is the leading organization for a global solution. As far as possible, all nation states and non-governmental organizations should cooperate under its umbrella. It is very gratifying that the UN has recognized the signs of the times and set in motion the communication process via a global pact for refugees. This article is intended as a concise contribution to this process. The authors have published several books and two radio broadcasts on this subject.[2]

 

We would like to transfer the key role in reducing humanitarian grievances to UNCR. Although this organization already plays an important role, with an annual budget of less than $10 billion it has very limited possibilities. Although we do not have reliable estimates of annual expenditure on refugees from all nation states, we assume that this will be many times the UNHCR budget. These resources need to be better concentrated and may need to be considerably expanded to bring an end to current grievances and prevent worse ones in the future.

 

Through our own research and not least through public contacts at a series of events that we conducted, we have come to a coherent, long-term concept, the application of which could bring us closer to the formulated target system under the aforementioned framework conditions.[3] The summary of this strategy comprises the following twelve points:

 

1) Grant property rights worldwide according to uniform principles, regulate rights and obligations of those entitled to protection uniformly!

 

2) Recognize natural disasters and climate change as flight causes!

 

3) Establish an independent research institute "Global Escape Movements”! This institute will establish a global register of safe and unsafe regions and states, operate an early warning system for flight movements and serve as an expert assessor in the procedures for granting protection.

 

4) Strive for uniform treatment of internally displaced persons and cross-border refugees!

 

5) For all people on the run: basic services and protection procedures in security zones as close as possible to the problem area!

 

6) In the event of threats to a security zone from unsafe neighboring regions: military protection by the international community!

 

7) In the event of a persistent cause of flight: development of the security zones into asylum communities that guarantee a decent quality of life, including work and training!

 

8) Return all those seeking protection for whom the court does not grant protection status to their region of origin under UNHCR direction!

 

9) If the capacity of local asylum communities is not sufficient, those entitled to protection should be distributed among all industrialized and emerging countries according to a key geared to national performance! These countries bear the costs of transport, integration and repatriation.

 

10) The principle is temporary integration, whether in a safe asylum commune or a distant host country.

 

11) A maximum period shall be uniformly defined globally within which those entitled to protection shall be returned to the region of origin, provided that they have gained security. After this period, they receive the option of citizenship in a host country, but also incentives to return.

 

12) No longer finance the UNHCR budget through donations but through mandatory contributions from all UN member states. UNHCR is to be audited and certified annually by the above independent research institute.

 

Such a global refugee policy adapted to the present and future would, from the perspective of potential refugees, lead to a minimization of wrong escape decisions, escape routes, escape risks, escape costs, smuggling activities, waiting times for asylum procedures, waste of time in camps and host countries, identity and adaptation problems and evasive flight.

 

From the point of view of the host countries, gsRP would lead to better predictability and predictability of costs, drastically fewer asylum procedures, greater internal security, less threat to national identity, less social fraud and far fewer repatriation problems. The citizens of all these states would benefit from these advantages and develop greater motivation to ensure that the fair share demanded by each state is effectively delivered.

 

The sometimes dramatic loss of human capital in the countries of origin and the difficulty in normalizing them would be reduced and replaced by the best type of development aid, namely the strengthening and education of refugees, who would then take this potential to their home country. The importance of this aspect, which has been neglected in the discussion to date, can be seen, for example, in the fact that more than half of all Syrian citizens are currently on the run.

 

Last but not least, flight would have a positive long-term effect on international understanding, because the returnees would have experienced foreign cultures without giving up their own identity or falling into unnecessary identity conflicts.

 

By reducing waste at several levels and increasing the benefit of many affected people, regions and states, the welfare of nations could be significantly increased.

 

Even if the road to implementing a refugee policy based on global solidarity is long and could take decades, it is still important today to set the right course for refugee policy, especially as climate change could entail new and surprising refugee policy challenges. On the way to the long-term goal, alliances of the willing could be formed and at least some of the principles mentioned above could be realized. The democratic states of the world are particularly challenged here if they do not want to be accused of only having human rights, including the right to asylum, on paper.