Millions of people around the world have been forced to flee their homes because of violence and conflict. Some seek jobs, education or healthcare in a new place; others are driven by human rights violations, gang persecution and war. Many refugees are displaced for extended periods of time – sometimes decades or more.
Providing basic needs and helping refugee communities rebuild their lives can be challenging for host states, which also face political, ethnic and religious tensions. When a refugee crisis is politicized, it can fuel scapegoating and manipulation, and turn temporary situations into permanent ones, increasing the likelihood of further displacement.
Refugees are often treated as bargaining chips, with governments trying to manipulate Western donor countries into preventing their arrival in the hope of gaining a strategic advantage. This commodification of refugees has profound social implications. The massive disruption to family and community networks combines with extreme human rights violations to erode refugees’ sense of dignity and their trust in authority structures. Many end up isolated with no hope for returning to their home country, as in the case of West Papuan refugees whose feelings are captured in an idiom of despair called Sakit Hati.
While armed conflict and persecution continue to cause the largest number of refugees, natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, mudslides and drought – caused by climate change – can also lead to mass displacement. And although these types of displacement are mostly internal, they can impact neighboring countries and cross international borders.