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Humanitarian assistance to migrants irrespective of their status – towards a non-categorical approach

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 January 2010

Thomas Linde
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Abstract

Humanitarian organizations dealing with migrants have long prioritized such people according to legal and institutional categories, therefore focusing on those fleeing conflict, violence or persecution. In a departure from this tradition, it was recommended at the 30th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent that the Movement should take an inclusive approach towards addressing the humanitarian dimension of migration, irrespective of the status of the migrants of concern. This article discusses the shift towards such an approach, and how it has been implemented in the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies' migration policy.

Type
Displacement
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , Volume 91 , Issue 875: Displacement , September 2009 , pp. 567 - 578
Copyright
Copyright © International Committee of the Red Cross 2009

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References

1 In particular, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, 1969, as well as the (non-binding) Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, 1984.

2 The institution of ‘prima facie refugee’, i.e. of a provisional refugee status granted to a person or group without individual status determination, as implicitly stipulated under the broader definition of refugees in the OAU Convention, or also foreseen in provisions of national law or administrative regulations in many countries, is clearly an exception for situations of rapid onset displacement of large numbers of people across international borders, normally due to armed conflict and/or generalized violence.

3 See Forced Migration Online, What is forced migration?, available at http://wwwforcedmigration/whatisfm.htm (last visited 29 September 2009).

4 10th International Conference, March 1921, Geneva: Resolution 15; 27th International Conference, August 1948, Stockholm: Resolution 31; 24th International Conference, November 1981, Manila: Resolution 21; 25th International Conference, October 1986, Geneva: Resolution 17; 26th International Conference, December 1995, Geneva: Resolution 4; 27th International Conference, November 1999, Plan of Action, Goal 2.3.

5 10th session of the General Assembly of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Geneva, 1995, Decision 12: ‘Red Cross and Red Crescent Work with Migrants’.

6 See for example: 27th International Conference, Geneva, 1999, Reference Document (Goal 1.1: Protection of victims of armed conflict through respect of International Humanitarian Law; Goal: 3.1: Strategic partnership to improve the lives of vulnerable people); Council of Delegates of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Geneva, November 2001, Resolution 4: ‘Movement Action in favour of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons’; Council of Delegates, Geneva, August 2003: ‘Tolerance, Non-discrimination, Respect for Diversity’, Document prepared by the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

7 6th European Regional Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Berlin, April 2002; 6th Asia and Pacific Regional Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Manila, November 2002; XVII Inter-American Conference of the Red Cross, Santiago de Chile, April 2003; 10th Mediterranean Conference, Athens, March 2007; 7th European Regional Conference of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Istanbul, May 2007; XVIII InterAmerican Conference, Guayaquil, Ecuador, June 2007.

8 Council of Delegates of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, Geneva, November 2007, Background Paper: ‘International Migration’, p. 1.

9 16th Session of the General Assembly, Geneva, Switzerland, 20–22 November 2007, Decision 12: ‘Migration’.

10 30th International Conference of the Red Cross and Red Crescent, Geneva, November 2007, Resolution 1: ‘Declaration: Together for Humanity’, available at: http://www.ifrc.o#/Docs/pubs/events/intconf07/adopted/declaration-en.pdf (last visited 29 September 2009).

11 Ibid.

12 Ibid.

13 Ibid.

14 For example, who exactly is an ‘illegal’ or ‘irregular’ migrant? In many contexts – particularly in regions where borders have been drawn arbitrarily, cutting through ethnic and historical entities – making the difference is impossible. And even where the legal instruments to draw a distinction exist, these can be in contradiction to other law: If the act of crossing a border elsewhere than at official entry points is made a criminal act – what about the migrant who crosses in this manner but under constraints that constitute a claim to protection under international refugee law?

15 International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Policy on Migration, May 2009, available at: http://www.ifrc.org/Docs/pubs/who/policies/migration-policy-en.pdf (last visited 29 September 2009). The document was approved by the Federation's Governing Board on 3 May 2009. The Board requested that implementation of the policy should go underway, in anticipation of its final endorsement by the General Assembly in November 2009.

16 Indeed, in many contexts (although not all), legal considerations constitute an important determinant helping us to formulate a template for migrant's needs, vulnerabilities, potentials, and prospects inasmuch as they relate to the realization or denial of one or the other specific right. Thus for many contexts, including migration, they do deserve special mention in terms of the operational instruments as well as the arguments for advocacy they can provide to humanitarian action with (see International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Policy on Migration, above note 15, section 4: ‘Recognizing the Rights of Migrants’).

17 In philosophical terms, this is following the concept of ‘family resemblances’ used by Ludwig Wittgenstein in arguing against Aristotelian categorization.

18 International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Policy on Migration, above note 15, art. 9.1: ‘Situations of displacement of populations are often linked to migration’ because ‘[p]eople in displacement may not be in a position to return or to stay where they have sought refuge. Thus, they may take the path of migration to reconstruct their lives elsewhere’.

19 A more systematic presentation of the sliding scale of multiple criteria for differentiating between migration and displacement might look as follows:

20 International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Policy on Migration, above note 15, Introduction, p. 3.

21 Increasingly, government officials are even obliged to hinder or block assistance to certain categories of migrants. This is the case where governments are focusing more and more exclusively on curbing migration, including by legal or administrative measures aimed at reducing to a minimum any assistance to irregular migrants, or even at simply outlawing it.

22 International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Policy on Migration, above note 15, section 1: ‘Focusing on the Needs and Vulnerabilities of Migrants’.

23 Ibid., section 5: “Linking Assistance, Protection and Humanitarian Advocacy”.

24 Ibid., section 7: “Working Along the Migratory Trails”.

25 Thus the general principles enunciated by the Federation Policy are formulated along an axis of action rather than of typology: ‘1. Focus on the Needs and Vulnerabilities of Migrants, 2. Include Migrants in Humanitarian Programming, 3. Support the Aspirations of Migrants, 4. Recognize the Rights of Migrants, 5. Link Assistance, Protection and Humanitarian Advocacy for Migrants, 6. Build Partnerships for Migrants, 7. Work Along the Migratory Trails, 8. Assist Migrants in Return, 9. Respond to the Displacement of Populations, 10. Alleviate Migratory Pressures on Communities of Origin.’

26 30th International Conference, ‘Declaration: Together for Humanity’, above note 10.

27 Ibid.