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Forced Migration: Solution Proposals for the G20

Two weeks from today, the G20 Hamburg Summit will start. Migration flows of refugees and other migrants will be one of the topics high on the agenda. As global leaders, the G20 countries should engage host countries in a “partnership for refugees” to make migration policy more effective. This is just one of the results from the consulting process of the T20 (Think 20), a network of international Think Tanks. The network is officially mandated by the German G20 Presidency to come up with bold and innovative proposals that can become the basis of future policy making—based on scientific evidence, not short-term political objectives.

Managing Forced Migration

Lower- and middle-income countries bear a disproportionate burden of the global refugee crisis. The G20 should help to strengthen these countries’ financial and structural capacity to address the needs of forced migrants. In particular, the G20 should support the integration of refugees into national labor markets and the inclusion of refugee children in national education systems.

Members of the Think 20 community (T20) have come up with proposals to address the challenges for G20 countries. Below we are presenting some of these ideas. All Policy Briefs can be found here: https://www.g20-insights.org/

G20 leaders should support low- and middle-income countries that host refugees

Developing countries that host refugees often face a large financial and operative burden. G20 leaders should increase funding for humanitarian assistance, reaffirm their commitment to donor organizations, and strengthen existing mechanisms to make funding more predictable. Countries should contribute in proportion to their global influence to share responsibility for protecting refugees more equitably. The G20 should harmonize asylum and migration resettlement policies and engage host countries in a “partnership for refugees” that would also see host countries commit to granting a secure legal status to refugees along with access to labor markets and public services.

Lücke, Matthias and Claas Schneiderheinze, “More Financial Burden-Sharing for Developing Countries that Host Refugees,” T20 Policy Brief, April 6, 2017 (https://www.g20-insights.org/policy_briefs/financial-burden-sharing-developing-countries-host-refugees/)

Khasru, Syed Munir, Kazi Mitul Mahmud, Avia Nahreen, “The G20 Countries Should Assume Leadership of the Forced Migration Crisis and Mitigate the Deficiencies of the Existing Governance System,” T20 Policy Brief, May 5, 2017 (www.g20-insights.org/policy_briefs/g20-countries-assume-leadership-forced-migration-crisis-mitigate-deficiencies-existing-governance-system/)

The G20 should promote the integration of refugees into national labor markets

Lower- and middle-income countries host 65 percent of the world’s refugees, mostly in urban settings in which refugees need access to the labor market to provide for their own livelihoods. To foster labor market integration of refugees, the G20 should mobilize the private sector to help develop sustainable solutions. It should endorse a “Virtual Observatory for Refugee Integration,” and the establishment of “Made by Refugees” Special Economic Zones (“MBR Zones”) in host countries. The G20 should promote refugee entrepreneurship through fast-tracked work visas, entrepreneur visas, and special startup visa programs.

Kadkoy, Omar, Timur Kaymaz, Murat Kenanoğlu, Güven Sak, “Forced Migrants: Labour Market Inte­gration and Entrepreneurship,” T20 Policy Brief, April 6, 2017 (www.g20-insights.org/policy_briefs/forced-migrants-labour-market-integration-entrepreneurship/)

The G20 should support integration of refugee children in national education systems

When denied access to education, refugee children and youth are particularly vulnerable to many forms of child abuse. The G20 should complement humanitarian assistance with development assistance to expand national education infrastructure. The G20 should fast-track the provision of integration to all refugee children, especially vulnerable ones, including by recognizing the contribution of informal education providers and providing accreditation where appropriate. It should encourage international organizations and national governments to provide ways to recognize prior teaching qualifications of refugees, and call for strengthening efforts to provide equal access to higher education through scholarships and special visa regulations.

Bislimi, Faton, Kenan Engin, Jaya Josie, Timur Kaymaz, Ismael Nouns, Barbara Sabitzer, Astrid Skala-Kuhmann, Konosoang Sobane, Daniel Taras, Vladimir Zuev, “Education and Skills Development in the Context of Forced Migration,” T20 Policy Brief, March 3, 2017 (www.g20-insights.org/policy_briefs/education-skills-development-context-forced-migration/)

Kadkoy, Omar, Timur Kaymaz, Murat Kenanoğlu, Güven Sak, “Forced Migrants: Labour Market Integration and Entrepreneurship,” T20 Policy Brief, April 6, 2017 (www.g20-insights.org/policy_briefs/forced-migrants-labour-market-integration-entrepreneurship/)

G20 leaders should support wider religious roles in refugee resettlement

To acknowledge religious actors as key partners, the leaders should name an interfaith advisory group to regularly brief leaders on religious dimensions of forced migration. The G20 should enhance structures at national and international level to ensure cooperation among and joint advocacy by religiously active communities and public authorities.

Vitillo, Msgr. Robert, Rabbi Awraham Soetendorp, Alberto Quatrucci, Azza Karam, Attalah Fitzgibbon, Ulrich Nitschke, and Katherine Marshall, “G20 policy makers should support wider religious roles in refugee resettlement,” Policy Brief, May 10, 2017 (www.g20-insights.org/policy_briefs/g20-policy-makers-support-wider-religious-roles-refugee-resettlement/)

G20 leaders should systematically collect information on “climate migrants” and reflect on appropriate policy responses

A blind spot in international governance, climate-induced migration is caused by disasters such as sea-level rise or by conflicts aggravated by such changes. The G20 should call on relevant organizations to submit joint reports on the effects of environmental change on the displacement of people. These organizations should improve coordination of humanitarian assistance, and ready international mechanisms for rising numbers of “climate migrants.” The G20 should promote long-term efforts to help “climate migrants” make lives elsewhere.

Sagar, Aarsi, Lloyd Axworthy, Cristina Cattaneo, Romy Chevallier, Shiloh Fetzek, Rajat Kathuria, Syed Munir Khasru, Andreas Kraemer, Katriona McGlade, Shingirirai Mutanga, Nedson Pophiwa, Benjamin Schraven, Patrick Toussaint, Scott Vaughan, Emily Wilkinson, “Building Global Governance for ‘Climate Refugees’,” T20 Policy Brief, May 8, 2017 (https://www.g20-insights.org/policy_briefs/building-global-governance-climate-refugees/)

The G20-Insights-Platform offers policy proposals to the G20. It is a new initiative of the Think 20 Group: https://www.g20-insights.org/

Twitter: @Glob_Solutions, #t20germany