Social Science Research Council

The purpose of this project was to explore how an international human rights framework could be used in collaborations between scholars and practitioners in international humanitarian and human rights organizations to develop new understandings and program designs that will enhance the protection of forced migrants in Africa.

The project responded to the challenges felt by humanitarian, refugee, and human rights organizations that seek to provide assistance and security for the growing number of the world's forced migrants. The definitions, laws, institutions, and strategies of the refugee and humanitarian regimes that were developed in post-World War II Europe correspond awkwardly, at best, to the conditions of people fleeing contemporary humanitarian crises in Third World settings. Based on the Refugee and Geneva Conventions, the central focus of the regimes for international refugees and victims of international war cannot adequately cover the chaotic diversity of other forced migrants -- including the internally displaced -- who have been forcibly moved by ethnic conflicts, civil war, collapsed states, economic development, environmental disasters, and other "complex emergencies."

Recent international convocations of representatives from intergovernmental agencies, voluntary organizations, and the academy have heightened a shared awareness of the disparities between the security needs of forced migrants and the capacity of the existing regimes to provide either temporary or durable solutions. Emerging from these meetings is a growing conviction that combining in research and analysis the theoretical and practical perspectives of scholars and practitioners could contribute understandings useful in developing new policies and programs.

The Social Science Research Council provided five research fellowships to social scientists and legal scholars to collaborate in research on Forced Migration and Human Rights in Africa with staff members of international nongovernmental organizations. Participation in this project required the equivalent of six full-time months over a year. Funding came from the Andrew Mellon Foundation and from the Ford Foundation. Scholars recruited have collaborated with a staff member of the following organizations in research focused on the questions and in the locations described below (to increase coherence between the 5 research projects, each focuses on an aspect of forced migration of Sierra Leoneans within West Africa):

United Nations High Commission for Refugees:

Who are "forced migrants" and what protections and assistance should they be provided? Research focused on a number of case studies in West Africa.

CARE:

How should understandings of the root causes of forced migration be incorporated into the design of protection and assistance strategies? Research focused within Sierra Leone.

International Rescue Committee:

How can international human rights law be employed in conjunction with national statutory and customary law to ensure the rights of forced migrants? This project focused on Guinea and Liberia.

Women's Commission for Refugee Women and Children:

Under what circumstances can repatriation, particularly of refugee women, restore a secure livelihood? Research focused on Sierra Leone and neighboring countries.

Lawyers Committee for Human Rights:

How can international organizations collaborate with local groups in African countries to identify and protect forced migrants of various statuses in refugee camps and/or urban settings and what preparation or training can facilitate such collaboration? Research focused in West Africa.

The Forced Migration project is staffed by Josh DeWind.