Strangers No More-Solutions Re

3 Credits · Level: Graduate

Strangers no more – Durable solutions for refugees. Traditionally, the three durable solutions for refugees have been voluntary repatriation, local integration in the country of first asylum, and resettlement to a third country. “Protection-sensitive” labor and other legal migration pathways outside of asylum are increasingly being explored as the "fourth durable solution." Yet intractable refugee situations are more prevalent than ever, encompassing refugees hosted in countries with encampment policies, urban refugees without integration prospects, endless "temporary" protection regimes, as well as Palestinian refugees. This course will explore durable solutions for refugees and strategies for pursuing those solutions. First, we will seek to define the goal: When is durable solution achieved?; i.e. when refugees are in a place where they are refugees no more, in their own eyes and the eyes of the community around them. Second, we will examine each of the durable solutions in depth. Third, we will examine durable solution strategies for refugee populations, paying particular to how refugees, states, host communities, and institutions can identify and act on their interest in accomplishing those solutions. Finally, we will propose solutions strategies for some of the worlds’ most protracted refugee situations, and look at early actions designed to prevent displacement crises from becoming protracted in the first place.