In the 21st century, people are being displaced more often than ever before. War and conflict are the biggest reasons, but poverty, hunger, discrimination for reasons such as gender or sexual orientation, and natural disasters (such as floods, earthquakes, mudslides, drought) are also major factors that lead to large-scale movements of people across international frontiers. In addition, climate change (which affects food security through desertification, water scarcity and rising sea levels) causes a type of displacement that, unlike conflict or hunger, is not directly related to human rights violations.
Displacement often leads to a refugee crisis, but the world needs to ensure that those who flee are not treated with hostility and dehumanization. Efforts to address the global refugee crisis must include a focus on local integration and resettlement. Local integration, which includes the right to work and a basic education for children, helps refugees live in safety while also contributing to their communities’ economic growth. Resettlement, on the other hand, gives refugees a chance to start over in a safe and secure country that can offer them the best possible future.
The chances for conflict and destabilization increase when refugee situations are politicized and commodified. Trying to solve a refugee crisis without considering the regional security environment is unlikely to succeed, and may only lead to frustration for refugees and waste of donor resources. When Western states with security interests in a region have little interest in supporting humanitarian interventions, they may turn a blind eye to the situation, or engage with refugee populations in ways that create secondary displacement and further desperation.
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