First, an understanding of the origins of what is known as warehousing and its effects.
Warehousing was first coined as a phrase by Jean-Pierre Hocké, the presiding UN High Commissioner for Refugees in 1988. It had become clear to him that long-term 'holding' of refugees in camps had become an unfortunate, but established pattern.
Warehousing as is currently understood is often justified by pointing to some kind of durable solution that would be engineered somewhere down the road on behalf of refugees; the term 'durable' is meant to suggest a lasting, permanent, safe solution.
The effects of warehousing include –
SEVERE restriction or complete elimination of the rights of refugees to earn a living, to seek employment or own businesses. This is largely due to refugees seen as a destabilizing element and a burden; laws passed by host nations to regulate refugee behavior often reflect that anxiety.
PROMOTION of bad morale and a sense of hopelessness.
INCREASED occurrances of domestic violence due to lack of evenhanded rationing of food and non-food items alike.
INCREASED likelihood of victimization–and most tragically, the practice of human trafficking–particularly in regard to sexual exploitation.
PROMOTION of unlawful behavior whereby desperate acts are undertaken. Refugees venture beyond the rules of the road, often leaving the camps illegally in search of work or food or medical care, thus subjecting themselves to harassment and deportation by agents of the host country.
CREATION of an antagonistic atmosphere between camp residents and local populations. Ironically, sometimes the refugees are seen to enjoy a better lifestyle, harsh though it is, in comparison to people living nearby, their lives characterized by extreme poverty. When refugees seek employment beyond the camps, they often work for lower wages, forage for scarce firewood and water, adding to the depletion of resources in and around the camp.
HEIGHTENED political tensions between host countries where camps are situated and those countries of origin from which refugees were forced into exile. Year after year as refugees find themselves stuck living in camps, their politics become more agitated, ripe for those militant influences whereby so-called 'refugee warriors' enter the camp seeking recruits, speading inflamatory ideas that later set the stage for further conflict. As an increasing number of residents are radicalized, they become armies-in-waiting. Once again, in the ensuing atmosphere, the darkest of elements and sensibilities take hold. It becomes a viscious cycle; refugee turned warrior turned refugee. Or worse, as many camps are now located near borders between rival countries, refugees find themselves caught in the crossfire, regardless of political persuasion, are often physically in harms way, sometimes forced to flee the very camp that was meant to serve as protection.
By today's standards, this syndrome now seems endless; a money drain of vast proportions, millions upon millions of humanitarian dollars poured into the effort, yet the suspicion is that so much dysfunction resides within the under belly that to believe otherwise would be naive. Since the breakup of the former Soviet Union, the subsequent humanitarian demands have outpaced the institutions upon whose shoulders such daunting realities now weigh so heavily.
In reponse to this reality, The North/South Civil Society Refugee Warehousing conference was convened in Geneva, Switzerland near the end of September 2005. It was a passionate undertaking attended by concerned members of the international refugee regime from around the world. Click
here (PDF download 45kb) to read the summary conclusions and advocacy points put forth by attendees of the conference.
For further information and an indepth understanding of the anti-warehousing campaign go to the UNITED STATES COMMITTEE FOR REFUGEES AND IMMIGRANTS.
HOME
