Global norms and local practices - the implementation of the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework in Ethiopia
Migration Department
Project head: Dr. Ramona Rischke , Dr. Zeynep Yanaşmayan
Project team members: Dr. Marcus Engler , Samuel Zewdie Hagos
Since 2015, several intergovernmental declarations and agreements have aimed at improving migration governance, a humanitarian rights-based approach to international migration governance and addressing issues of responsibility-sharing, particularly in international refugee protection. Key agreements include the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 2015), the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants (2016), the Global Compact on Migration, and the Global Compact for Refugees (2018). While the general objectives of these international agreements appear worthy of support, many of the implicit policies turn out not to be appropriate for different local contexts. Bakewell (e.g. 2020), for example, argues convincingly that 'managed' migration will not prove welfare enhancing in different contexts. Moreover, the implementation of international policies at the local level can cause significant frictions and unintended effects, including secondary conflicts and the weakening of local support structures (e.g. Hagos 2018). This project explores such externalities and potential mismatches between global norms and local practices by analysing local implementation strategies and outcomes of the so-called Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) for both refugees and host communities in Ethiopia.
Research questions:
The CRRF was initially a supplement to the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants*. It has four main objectives: Reducing pressure on affected host countries, enhancing refugee self-reliance, expanding access to durable solutions in third countries, promoting conditions for safe and dignified return to countries of origin. Since 2017, the CRRF has been implemented in a number of refugee contexts in more than a dozen countries (see Nigusie & Carver 2019). Lessons learned from these countries have informed the Global Compact for Refugees, in which the CRRF has been formally incorporated.
The project will examine the implementation of CRRF-related policies in Ethiopia (a country where the CRRF has been implemented). With the aim of understanding possible discrepancies between local and global norms, policies and practices, as well as similarities and differences between different regions within Ethiopia, the study will address the following research questions:
1) How do different actors conceptualise the CRRF in relation to refugee protection and integration programmes?
2) How have the processes of implementing the CRRF influenced existing local refugee reception and integration initiatives?
3) How do Ethiopia's geopolitical interests influence the protection of refugees and asylum seekers?
Funding: Federal Ministry of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth (Institutional funding)
Cooperation partner:
The German Centre for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM) and the University of Gambella have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, recognising the importance of scientific cooperation between universities and research centres. The Department of Migration has established a working relationship with Gambella University in Ethiopia to conduct joint field research and data collection. This approach is intended to both achieve the goals of data collection and support efforts to engage institutions from the Global South in the process of knowledge production in the area of migration governance. Currently, data collection is ongoing in cooperation with the University of Gambella. In addition, the cooperation with the German Development Institute (DIE) has created the possibility to draw on existing data to work on further drafts for publications.