Although exile can be interminably protracted, refugee status is not granted permanently. According to the 1951 Refugee Convention, when the circumstances under which people were recognised as refugees no longer exist (the premise of ‘ceased circumstances’), the Cessation Clause may…
Not too long ago, Liberia and Sierra Leone experienced extreme violence with both of them teetering on the brink of being failed states. Today they are on the mend, albeit struggling. What happened in their case and how were their…
Since 2012, the Colombian government has been engaged in peace talks with the country’s largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), amidst an armed conflict that has dragged on for over 50 years and has displaced more…
The World Bank’s value added is not in identifying and addressing the protection or short-term humanitarian needs of displaced persons, a focus which is well served by other agencies. Instead, as a development institution, the World Bank’s lens is focused…
When the Women and Girls Oasis Centre opened in Za’atari refugee camp in Jordan in late 2012, it was a dusty, barren plot, surrounded by prefabricated trailers and a fence. By the end of 2014, the Oasis compound was filled…
There are few interventions catering to the needs of the displaced elderly, and their situations in conflicts and disasters are seldom documented. The invisibility of the displaced elderly within data and subsequent programming reflects the limited profiling of the specific…
As middle-income countries, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt to a large extent, and Iraq and Syria to a lesser extent, saw declining official financing flows supporting their development in the years preceding the current Syrian crisis. In middle-income countries, financing…
Following the significant increase in the number of refugees entering Europe, calls to address the ‘root causes’ of displacement through development cooperation have become louder across the European Union (EU), and several EU member states have dedicated substantial funds to…
Syrian refugees have very limited options for supporting themselves. Resettlement in other countries is only available for a very small percentage of the most vulnerable refugees and there appear to be no options either for long-term integration in the neighbouring…
Palestine refugees in Lebanon, being classified as foreigners or migrants, suffer restrictions on their employment. Generally, non-Lebanese nationals who want to work in the professions in Lebanon can do so under the ‘principle of reciprocity’ between nations. However, Palestinians were…