Sreya Sen
(Sreya Sen is a Doctoral
Fellow at University of Calcutta. She participated in the workshop as an International
Student Rapporteur along with Dacia Douhaibi (York University).)
A
workshop on “Power and Influence in the
Global Refugee Regime” was organized by the Migration and Diaspora Studies
Initiative at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada from 23 to 25 September
2015. The workshop considered how power and influence may be observed and
studied within the global refugee regime before taking into consideration the
influence of various states, international organizations, NGOs and other actors
within the global refugee regime.
The
workshop took off with the presentation of a background paper on “Understanding
Power and Influence in the Global Refugee Regime” by workshop host Dr. James Milner, Professor of Political
Science, Carleton University. The paper drew from literature on global
governance and international regimes and proposed analytical tools which may
explain or be used to observe power and influence in the global refugee regime.
It also presented a framework for understanding power and influence in the
global refugee regime that would stimulate discussion over the three days of
the workshop.
The
workshop then proceeded to consider the role of various actors and their
influence within the global refugee regime, beginning with states such as the
US, Australia, India and also looked at the role of a number of non-state
actors. (UNHCR, IOM, NGOs). The first session of the workshop was chaired by Martin Geiger (Carleton University) and
began with Gil Loescher (University of Oxford) giving a
talk on “The History of UNHCR’s Changing Power and Influence”. His paper
explored the history of the UNHCR’s changing influence and power in the global
refugee regime over the past sixty years, looking at under what circumstances
and where, the UNHCR had influenced decisions concerning refugee assistance and
protection. Jeff Crisp (University of
Oxford) spoke about “UNHCR and the Global Refugee Policy
Process”, examining the processes through which policies are formulated
within the UNHCR and the various factors which influence the evaluation and
implementation of these policies. Megan
Bradley (McGill University) presented on “IOM: What role in the forced
migration regime?” She looked at the factors which explain the dramatic
growth of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) since 1988 and the
relevance of this growth for the global forced migration regime.
The
second session of the workshop was chaired by Christina Clark-Kazak (York University) and started with Susan Martin (Georgetown University) speaking
about “The Case of the US”, considering the experience of the USA with
regard to influence and power in refugee and forced migration issues. She also
considered if the USA can indeed be regarded as a hegemon where the global
refugee regime is concerned. Her talk was followed by a presentation from Susan Kneebone (Monash University) on “The
Case of Australia” , stressing on the Australian policy of commodifying
refugee protection and arguing how such a policy can negatively impact refugee
protection and resettlement at the International level. Ranabir Samaddar (Calcutta Research Group) then examined “The
Case of India”, by looking at refugee flows into India since its
independence and the influence this has had on India’s position in the global
refugee regime. Through a discussion of the inherent contradictions that exist
in state policies toward asylum and refugees in India, Dr. Samaddar considered
how India’s experience with refugees has positioned it to offer a post colonial
interrogation of the global refugee regime. This was followed by a roundtable
that featured discussion with NGO representatives involved in different stages
of the global refugee policy process. Some of the participants in this
roundtable discussion were Jessie
Thomson (Care, Canada) and Ann
Witteveen (Oxfam, Canada). The roundtable was moderated by James Milner (Carleton University) and
entailed an analysis of the role played by non-governmental organizations in
the global refugee regime by reflecting on important questions such as whether
or not the ability of NGO’s to influence global refugee policy is conditioned
by their operational experience, and can the increasing prominence of NGO’s
determine their influence over implementing global refugee policy at the local
level.
In its
third session, chaired by Elissa Golberg
(Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development, Government of Canada),
the workshop looked at if states, IOs and NGOs are, in fact, the only core
actors in global regimes. Alexander
Betts (University of Oxford) started by entering into a detailed discussion
of “The
Influence of New Actors in the Global Refugee Regime”, illustrating the
influence exercised by the private sector, refugee diaspora groups and
epistemic communities in important instances of decision making as well as
implementation in the global refugee regime. His paper drew from literature on
global governance to highlight the significance of such examples. This was
followed by a more detailed examination of the case of Canada’s experience in
the global refugee regime. Mike Molloy
(Canadian Immigration Historical Society and University of Ottawa)
presented a paper on “Canada’s History with the Global Refugee
Regime: 1950’s to 1990’s”, identifying factors and themes that
explained its leadership over the course of these years. These themes were then
applied to events when Canada was able to either exercise or not exercise its influence
in the global refugee regime. James
Milner (Carleton University), the official discussant for this paper, drew
on recent examples of Canadian leadership in the regime in his response to Mike
Molloy, such as the unlocking of Bhutanese PRS in Nepal and the 2009 Excom
Conclusion on Protracted Refugee Situations, in addition to the promotion of
strategic uses of resettlement, to consider the validity of arguments made by
Molloy with regard to Canada’s role in the global refugee regime in the new
millennium.
The
fourth session of the workshop was chaired by Megan Bradley (McGill University), and began with a presentation by
Jennifer Hyndman (York University),
who raised some important questions in her paper on “Resettlement Diplomacy”,
wondering how strategic resettlement has worked, if at all, in the past and
what new or additional spaces of refugee care and protection are generated when
the two economies of refugee assistance - Canadian support for humanitarian aid
overseas and refugee resettlement to Canada, are integrated and considered
together. Some preliminary responses were then offered by her, to these
questions, through an examination of the Canadian experience at home and
abroad. Francois Audet and Catherine
Lune Grayson (Universite de Quebec a Montreal) gave a talk on “Understanding
Canada’s Financial Contributions to the UNHCR”, looking at what
motivates the quality and quantity of contributions made by Canada to the UNHCR
and also arguing how a comprehensive understanding of these financial
contributions could inform ones understanding of Canada’s influence over the
global refugee regime. The workshop concluded with a presentation by Janet Dench (Canadian Council for Refugees)
on “Canada in the Global Refugee Regime: The Perspective of Civil Society”
where she considered Canada’s changing status within the global refugee
regime, through an engagement with different civil society organizations in
various countries as well as from the perspective of Canadian civil society.
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