In many contexts around the world, states use funding for humanitarian programming as an active part of their attempts to manage populations displaced by conflict. Humanitarian aid to refugees and internally displaced is commonly understood as a temporary activity that ends when people will return home. Yet returnees can often not be provided with protection and ‘return’ for many entails a first encounter with a new place. This policy brief argues that humanitarian organizations have the responsibility to analyze the long-term security implications of their decisions on where to provide aid. It draws on the case study of Somalia.
In this seminar, Cindy Horst and Tove Heggli Sagmo will present a policy brief on the findings from two ongoing research projects: 'Protection of Civilians: From Priniple to Practice' and 'Possibilities and Realities of Return Migration' (PREMIG); both funded by the Research Council of Norway. Their presentation will be followed by invited comments by Johan Meyer (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and Siri Elverland (Norwegian Refugee Council) and Joost van der Aalst (International Organization for Migration). An open discussion with the audience will follow.
This seminar is organized in collaboration with the PRIO research groups Humanitarianism, Migration and with the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies.
