The Urban Refugee and the Future of Humanitarianism

When you picture a refugee, what do you see?

For those of us fortunate enough to have no first-hand experience of conflict or displacement, it is likely that we imagine a person in a camp, surrounded by white tents emblazoned with UNHCR logos. That camp is probably in a rural area and staffed by international humanitarian aid workers unloading trucks bearing the Red Cross Red Crescent emblem.

These may be the images that most regularly make our television screens, but they are far from representative of the experience of most refugees or internally displaced people (IDPs). In fact, the majority of displaced people move to cities: over 60 per cent of the world’s 19.5 million refugees, and 80 per cent of the 34 million IDPs, live in urban environments rather than in formal camps. This is important because it fundamentally changes the shape of the challenge to be overcome in supporting refugees and host countries at a time when forced displacements have reached a record high globally.

In many ways, the resettlement of forcibly displaced people to cities is a far preferable alternative to the rural camp context. Refugee camps are by definition supposedly temporary settlements, and thus are constructed and managed through the UNHCR’s protection mandate, meaning that they are not designed to facilitate the development of livelihoods for their inhabitants, but rather work through the provision of humanitarian aid. For short term support this may be a reasonable solution, but the reality is that in protracted crises refugees often remain unable to return home for years or even decades. Long-term dependency on aid (not to mention the mental health effects of prolonged uncertainty associated with long-term encampment) can have detrimental effects on an individual’s capacity to recover from trauma.

Resettlement in cities, by contrast, not only offers a second chance for the displaced to rebuild their lives, but can actually benefit the host community with an influx of new skills, an economic boost, and new cultural diversity. However, as we have seen in the ugly discourse surrounding the refugee “crisis” around Europe and the US, urban resettlement also has the potential to inflame intergroup tensions.

These issues have caused serious concern in western countries that have a good capacity to cope with a sudden influx of migrants and refugees, and who have taken in comparatively far fewer people than other, less well-equipped states. At the end of 2017, the UK hosted 127,837 refugees, equalling one quarter of a percent of our population. In comparison, Turkey, which hosts more refugees than any other country, is currently home to 3.7 million Syrian refugees, over 35 times more than the UK and just less than 5% of their population. 95% of those refugees live in urban centres rather than camps, with some towns near the Syrian border now hosting more refugees than Turkish citizens.

Whilst Turkey tops the charts of refugee-hosting countries, Pakistan, Uganda, Sudan, and Germany all support more than 1 million cross-border refugees, as well as many more IDPs. This accounts for a massive number of displaced people moving into new areas, either within or across borders, and trying to find their place in a new home surrounded by host communities who are willing to provide varying levels of support for them. At the state and international levels, these people are less visible and less easily supported, as they work alongside and live with the host community. In Europe, as politicians scramble to develop a coherent strategy to tackle the influx of refugees and migrants, those that have arrived and achieved asylum status are already making their own way – finding work, homes, relationships and hobbies within their new communities, to varying degrees of success.

This makes cities the new frontline of humanitarianism. The refugee camp supported by international aid is becoming obsolete as global humanitarian needs outweigh the capacity of the aid sector to respond. As conflict, economic turmoil, and climate change forces more and more people away from their homes towards bigger cities across the world, the needs of the displaced are becoming more closely associated with the needs of everyone. This blurs the line between humanitarianism and development, and means we need to look differently at how to address the key challenges of poverty, civil unrest, and migration in the 21^st century.

It also means that you do not need to be an aid worker or a diplomat to support those affected by conflict, disasters, or economic privation across the globe. More now than ever, global issues can have local solutions.

People who have been displaced have not just lost their homes and livelihoods, but their communities and support networks. Life in camps is not conducive to developing a home that can facilitate human connection and development. But life in cities absolutely can be. The new urban humanitarianism poses many new challenges and questions to consider in global development, but it also provides many new opportunities to better the lives of not just those affected by disaster, but of those who welcome them to their new homes.

People work best when we work together.

Support housing and fostering of refugees in the UK. Volunteer with any number of organisations who support refugee integration. Raise awareness and share the facts about displacement. There are a million ways you can do your bit to support those in need globally, from wherever you are.

Humanitarianism isn’t just for humanitarians anymore.

The future is urban.

The future is all of us.

ODI are hosting a free event and webinar on the 24th July to discuss the urban future of humanitarian action and what it might mean for the sector. You can register for free to attend or watch online here.