New Approaches to Refugee Crises in the 21st Century: The Role of the International Community

The worldwide sense of crisis surrounding the mass movements of refugees and migrants gave rise to an extraordinary series of international conferences and meetings in 2016, capped by the first United Nations summit convened to specifically address issues surrounding this migration.

With the three classic "durable solutions" for protection—repatriation, permanent integration in the country of first asylum, and resettlement—unable to match the needs of displaced populations, new approaches to protection are greatly needed.

The international summits and conferences convened in 2016 have reached for practical, concrete outcomes, such as new funding for humanitarian relief as well as pledges for new resettlement places and development projects. This conference cycle has also promoted broader rethinking of the relationship between development, mobility, and protection. Yet turning these commitments into reality presents a major challenge for international cooperation.

This policy brief aims to outline opportunities for cooperation, first examining existing interventions and then exploring the potential of international conferences to elevate—or even transform—these efforts.