2 - Humanitarian Action, Forced Displacement and Religion: Contemporary Research Perspectives

Summary

Abstract

This contribution focuses on the role of religion in the context of humanitarian action by using forced displacement as an example. Discussing cases from Eastern Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia, the aim of the chapter is to map and evaluate the existing research on humanitarian action and religion from the perspective of the study of religion. The chapter distinguishes between local, national and transnational actor-centred perspectives on the one side and structural approaches to the political and religious field on the other side. Thus, it identifies the ways how religion can frame humanitarian action and, vice versa, how humanitarian action can set the tone for the religiosity of people or organisations

Keywords: forced displacement, humanitarian action, religion, Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia

Introduction

According to data from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), all countries in Eastern Europe, the Caucasus, Central Asia and its neighbouring regions are today affected by forced displacement (UNHCR 2016). A variety of groups, organisations and institutions provide humanitarian aid: local, national and transnational, state-run and non-governmental. Furthermore, refugee and forced migration studies progressed in the 1980s as an ‘independent field worthy of scholarly research’ with a ‘distinct identity’ (Fiddian-Qasmiyeh et al. 2014: 3), engaging a variety of disciplines touching on such diverse fields of research as charity, human rights, development, international organisations and international relations (Saunders et al. 2016). This contribution focuses on the role of religion in the context of humanitarian aid rather than looking at religion as a cause for displacement through repressive religious policy (Kolbe and Henne 2014) or religious clashes like, for example, in Bosnia (Temoney 2017).

For many years, academic research on forced displacement and humanitarian aid developed without taking religion into account. This is attributable to two main reasons. First, the situation of migrants required basic, urgent help. The existential nature of these needs put pressure on both practitioners and academics to focus on the essential problems and religion seemed to be of marginal importance. Second, the ethical code of humanitarian action demanded neutrality, whereas religion was generally suspected of being partisan and divisive. Both arguments are under attack today (Fiddian- Qasmiyeh 2011). First, the role of religion can obviously be important when considering the whole chain of humanitarian action from donors to migrants.