Past Event! Note: this event has already taken place.
Global South Reflections on a Routes-Based Approach to Migration
December 11, 2024
On December 11, 2024, a panel discussion titled “Global South Reflections on a Routes-Based Approach to Migration” took place online. The event, hosted by the IDRC Research Chairs Network on Forced Migration and supported by LERRN: The Local Engagement Refugee Research Network, featured Madeline Garlick from UNHCR and two IDRC Research Chairs, Matthew Bird (Peru) and Myriam Cherti (Morocco). The discussion delved into the 2024 UNHCR proposed “routes-based approach” to advancing protection and solutions.
Madeline Garlick, as Chief of the Protection Policy and Legal Advice Section in the Division of International Protection at UNHCR in Geneva, provided a detailed outline on UNHCR’s perspective on the routes-based approach to migration. This new approach is potentially a paradigm shift in humanitarian responses to migration because of how it restructures protection support from a siloed country-based to integrated routes-based programming. This shift reflects the increased mixed-movements worldwide and the vast suffering among these mixed-movement routes. This approach does not aim to facilitate onward movement of refugees and migrants in an irregular manner, but rather seeks to find lawful ways to reconcile the sovereignty and legitimate interests of states in managing their borders with the rights of refugees and migrants under international and other relevant branches of law.
Dr. Matthew Bird, as the IDRC Research Chair for Peru, and Dr. Myriam Cherti, as the IDRC Research Chair for Morocco, reflected on the proposed approach and contextualized it within the Americas and North African region, respectively. While a whole-of-route approach is a step forward in the coordination of multilateral and multistakeholder responses to increased mixed flows towards the Global North, it also raises important questions from a Global South perspective. Difficulties in making distinctions between refugees and migrants are complicated further as they journey through migration routes, passing various states which categorize them differently – constantly changing their eligibility for protection. This highlights the continuing need to understand the root causes of migration and displacement. Further, in framing the routes-based approach, it is important to bridge the humanitarian perspective to the developmental perspective. Localized evidence needs to demonstrate the potential benefits of taking a more comprehensive approach and the capacity for absorption to a national development agenda – especially in middle income countries where there is a capacity for socioeconomic integration and responsible sharing.
While the routes-based approach is a step forward in ensuring international protection and respect of human rights, the frame of reference must include a context specific way of thinking in its implementation. By engaging context-specific and localized knowledge production, states along migration routes can develop more comprehensive support for refugees and migrants. Researchers hold a critical role in partnership with UNHCR and other policy makers for generating data to guide decisions.