BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN AND DEVELOPMENT RESPONSES TO FORCED MIGRATION

Forced migration has increased enormously worldwide, and a pressing political debate has emerged on how to deal effectively with underlying crises.

Until a few years ago, climate change was considered the future main driver of forced migration. Today, violent conflict has taken its place in the public limelight, mainly due to the crisis in Syria. This crisis entered the European public arena only when a significant number of refugees started to reach Europe. It suddenly became tangible that the number of refugees is at its all time high in the history of mankind, and not a mere figure anymore.

Which international actors are competent, and which approach is most appropriate to manage forced migration crises? This is a long-standing bone of contention. But since crises are becoming increasingly protracted today, frequently giving stakeholders of the humanitarian and the development sector a good reason to work simultaneously, it seems even more imperative to establish linkages between sectors.

The call for changes – mostly as a consequence of the Syria crisis – became louder with the first World Humanitarian Summit in Istanbul, 2016. Almost all summit documents, such as the Report of the United Nations Secretary-General for the World Humanitarian Summit, are stressing the need to (better) link humanitarian assistance with development cooperation: “Humanitarian and development actors need to work collaboratively across silos and mandates to implement plans with a clear and measurable collective outcome that reduces the vulnerability of internally displaced persons over the long term”. This applies for internally displaced persons and refugees alike.

This literature review contributes to answer how humanitarian and development responses to forced migration crises can be linked effectively. It does so by addressing two sub-questions:

1. What is needed to effectively link humanitarian and development responses to forced migration crises?
2. To what extent, and why (or why not), are effective linkages established in practice?