Can humanitarian work with refugees be humane?

This article highlights one dimension of the provision of humanitarian aid, the interactions between “helpers” and refugees in contexts where refugees are dependent for their survival on assistance distributed by humanitarian organizations. There is much evidence that the treatment meted out to refugees by too many of those delegated to help them is such that it can only be described as “inhuman.” This topic is not usually talked about, but the awareness of its ubiquity causes serious personal disquiet and uneasy consciences amongst many who work for these organizations. This paper will review a number of attempts to explain such behavior and review some solutions that have been proposed. It will be argued that until refugees have access to effective legal remedies, humanitarian assistance will continue to be inhumanely delivered to refugees. In short, what is needed is a “rights-based humanitarianism” that goes beyond “private charity or governmental largess.” This approach is not about discretionary assistance when the mood for benevolence takes us. It is about defending, advocating and securing enjoyment of human rights. It also implies a shift from seeing beneficiaries of humanitarian aid as “victims” to be pitied, to survivors of adversity—who often demonstrate unimaginable strength and dignity in the most adverse circumstance.