FMR 71

Socio-economic integration: towards solutions for displaced people

January 2023

The quest for socio-economic integration, for both forcibly displaced people and host communities, raises fundamental questions for all those involved in forced migration policy, practice and research about how displaced people can live with autonomy and dignity.

The authors in FMR 71 share new perspectives on socio-economic integration that we hope can lead to a concrete and transformative shift in approaches. They reimagine the role of integration in responses to displacement, at a significant time of global change marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, urgent climate-related pressures and ongoing digital transformation. Most importantly, this issue includes displaced people’s voices and strategies in working towards solutions.

FMR 71

Socio-economic integration: towards solutions for displaced people

January 2023

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Alice Philip and Olivia Berthon Editors, Forced Migration Review

From the Editors

Asako Okai

Foreword - Socio-economic integration: from crisis to opportunity

As emphasised by the Global Compact on Refugees and the UN Secretary-General’s Action Agenda on Internal Displacement,[1] socio-economic integration is an essential springboard to a more sustainable approach. In tandem with essential humanitarian assistance, development policies that focus on meaningful social and economic inclusion can rebuild the lives of those forcibly displaced, while strengthening the communities in which they reside. Humanitarian assistance is critical in the first stages of displacement to save lives and foster stability. But ending displacement situations requires more than that. National and local governments need to make integration – or reintegration in the case of returnees – a priority.

Alexander Betts

Socio-economic integration – what is it, and why does it matter?

Both academic and public debate tend to see refugee protection and durable solutions[1] as describing a relationship between nation-states and refugees. When a person’s country of citizenship is unable or unwilling to provide the most basic rights, people flee to another state to seek surrogate protection until they are able to return home or acquire effective membership of another state.

Lorraine Charles and Lana Cook

Opening the global digital economy to refugees

There is no agreed definition of the ‘digital economy’ and the distinction between the digital and traditional economy is becoming increasingly blurred. Broadly speaking, the digital economy can be defined as incorporating all economic activity reliant on digital technology and can include jobs within and outside what we traditionally think of as the tech sector. Digital labour or jobs in the digital economy are wide-ranging, from on-demand logistics services like Uber and Deliveroo, micro-work such as Amazon Mechanical Turk and data tagging, income-generation activities on social media channels, online retail portals devoted to one-click consumption, and high-skilled knowledge workers such as researchers, web developers, virtual assistants, lawyers and accountants.

Jeff Crisp

Local integration, local settlement and local solutions: disentangling the conceptual confusion

The notion of ‘local integration’ is frequently used in relation to refugees, and yet it lacks any formal definition in international law. The lack of clarity surrounding the concept is reinforced by its frequent confusion with a related but different concept, that of ‘local settlement’. For the purposes of this article, local integration can be regarded as a process which leads to a durable solution for refugees, in the sense that it enables them to benefit from the permanent protection of the State which has granted them asylum.

Hellen Baillot et al

The role of social connections in refugees’ pathways towards socio-economic integration

The pivotal role of social connections in refugee integration has been long recognised as one of the key domains of the UK government’s Indicators of Integration framework, and has been widely explored by academic, practice and policy literature.[1] Social connections emphasise the importance of relationships between people to the process of integration, as these relationships can facilitate (and in some cases constrain) access to, use and exchange of resources. Social connections are also core to a sense of belonging and well-being for both refugees and other groups.

Meriem Ait Ali Slimane and Shereen Al Abbadi

Six years after the Jordan Compact: the effect of labour market policies on Syrians’ economic integration

The issues affecting refugees’ socio-economic integration are complex and multifaceted, requiring a whole-of-community approach. These factors include access to work, mobility, financial services, education, health, housing and social integration services, as well as issues related to social cohesion and tensions with host communities.

Cyril Bennouna, Ilana Seff and Lindsay Stark

How schools and other public services in the US can promote refugee integration

Services and policies need to be more thoughtfully designed to enable young refugees’ social and economic integration. This requires a better understanding of what constitutes sustainable integration and what factors promote it.

Swati Mehta Dhawan, Kim Wilson, Hans-Martin Zademach and Julie Zollman

No financial inclusion without basic economic rights

Without access to basic economic rights, refugees will not be able to build self-reliance. Case-studies from Kenya and Jordan show that providing financial services is not sufficient if rights are absent.

Luba Shara

Transforming a refugee camp into a marketplace: lessons from Kenya

Donors, humanitarian agencies, development finance institutions and host countries are looking to the private sector to play a key role in supporting refugees to integrate into host communities.

Nassim Majidi and Camilla Fogli

Public-private initiatives for local integration: evidence from Afghanistan and Kenya

Public-private partnerships are laying the foundations to enable sustainable and ethical value chain approaches to be used in displacement-affected communities.

Özlem Gürakar Skribeland

Addressing challenges to integrating refugees in the Turkish labour market

Turkey’s large refugee population faces major challenges in accessing legal employment. Several legal measures could improve their situation.

Hamsa Vijayaraghavan

Barriers to socio-economic integration in India

The lack of defined systems of asylum management in India and other South Asian countries means that those in need of protection have been left without any legal avenues for integration.

Mulemangabo Bisimwa

“We are well able to stand on our own if we are given the opportunities”: perspectives from affected populations in Uganda

Persons affected by forced displacement undoubtably know what solutions are best for them, yet their voices and ideas are rarely included in policy discussions at national levels.

Amédée Bamouni

Resilience against all odds: socio-economic integration of IDPs in Burkina Faso

Of the almost 2 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Burkina Faso, most have been settled in reception sites but others have chosen to integrate into host communities. This article explores the determining factors that have led to their successful integration.

Gina Paola Escobar Cuero

Integrating Afro-descendant and indigenous internally displaced women in Colombia through their own cultural practices

Supporting Afro-descendant and indigenous internally displaced women to develop initiatives based on their particular culture could contribute to their integration and to host communities.

Boel McAteer and Deniz Öztürk

Socio-economic integration of Syrian women in Turkey: benefits and challenges of the cooperative model

Women’s cooperatives can help enable the socio-economic integration of Syrian women in Turkey and address gendered barriers to the labour market. Obstacles remain, however, if the cooperative model is to be sustainable in the long term.

Samuel Davidoff-Gore and Camille Le Coz

Boosting donor engagement to achieve refugees’ socioeconomic inclusion

The international donor community has already moved towards integrating a development approach into its response to protracted refugee situations. Donors now need to enhance their engagement with local, national and regional partners to overcome the remaining obstacles to the sustainable socio-economic inclusion of refugees.

Gloria Muhoro

Engaging development actors in supporting the socio-economic integration of forcibly displaced persons in Southern Africa

UNHCR in Southern Africa has been collaborating with development actors to support the socio-economic integration and durable solutions for displaced people in the region. Various considerations and lessons emerge from this work to date.

Kellie C Leeson, Amy Slaughter and Dale Buscher

Measuring and facilitating self-reliance

With durable solutions available only to a very small proportion of the global refugee population, self-reliance programming and the measurement of self-reliance outcomes are increasingly important topics in re-thinking the quality and sustainability of socio-economic integration.

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