LERRN Project Director James Milner and Managing Director of R-SEAT Mustafa Alio gave a lecture titled “The Politics and Practice of Refugee Participation in the Governance of the Global Refugee Regime” at McGill University on the 16th of November.
Abstract
This presentation examines the emerging norm of meaningful refugee participation in the governance of the global refugee regime (Milner, Alio and Gardi 2022). A prominent theme of UN agreements on refugees since 2016 has been a commitment to enhancing the role of refugees in the making and implementation of policies that affect them. As articulated in Paragraph 34 of the UN’s 2018 Global Compact on Refugees: “responses are most effective when they actively and meaningfully engage those they are intended to protect and assist.” This arguably reflects a belief that responses will be more effective and seen as more legitimate if refugees are involved in the design of refugee responses. This is a potentially significant area of innovation for the governance of the global refugee regime, especially given the regime’s history of claiming that the core institution of the refugee regime has the moral and expert authority to represent the needs and interests of refugees. In response, this presentation considers three questions: What is meant by “meaningful refugee participation”? What difference could refugee participation make in the governance of the refugee regime? And what critical questions should be raised in future work on the meaningful participation of refugees in the governance of the global refugee regime?
