Flight and expulsion are usually the direct consequence of violent conflicts, political persecution, or the effects of climate change. With their long-term approaches, development cooperation and peacebuilding tackle the root causes of migration, such as poverty, exclusion, segregation, and exploitation, and help to create social-political and economic conditions that counteract forced migration. At the same time, they work toward making migration corridors safer and protecting the rights of refugees and internally displaced persons. The latter is of particular importance to Switzerland, which has enshrined peace and human rights in its constitution. It is a matter of establishing a supportive and coherent foreign policy – a migration, peace, and development policy – that protects particularly vulnerable people from the violent effects of conflicts and is designed to ensure that the vulnerability of migrants is not abused for political purposes. However, it is important to keep sight of the limitations of these tools: Neither peace nor development cooperation can prevent sudden migration triggered by an emergency situation. In this case, fueling false hope and exerting political pressure would be negligent and counterproductive.
This article is an attempt to link peacebuilding tools, as has been done in a similar way with those used in development cooperation, to the migration-specific challenges faced in conflict or post-conflict contexts – a largely new approach. Provided that its member organizations are interested, KOFF will set to work on a joint reflection process in the future.
The impetus provided by development cooperation
Migration processes are complex, especially in conflict or post-conflict contexts. Situations are chang-ing all the time and there are very few state structures, if any, that are capable of or even willing to tackle these challenges. In addition to recognized refugees, whose status and protection are set out in multilateral rules and regulations, there is a rising number of asylum seekers and internally displaced persons whose legal situation is unclear, which makes them even more vulnerable.
Against this backdrop, development organizations, with their core mission of combating poverty and exclusion, are able to bring about improvements selectively and as the situation demands and provide long-term impetus to reduce individual causes of migration: For example, they get involved in providing infrastructure and (vocational) training, support people in sustainable farming and increase added value, promote the creation of jobs and humane working conditions, and fight abuses in labor migration resulting from poverty (including human trafficking). However, the development work cannot make any direct impact in terms of preventing migration.
The same applies to the involvement of members of the diaspora, whose role has been increasingly prominent on the international migration agenda for some time: They transfer vast amounts of money back home and have the potential to implement promising projects in their countries of origin. The diaspora is therefore a byword for the positive contribution migration can make and the importance of mobility, as set out in the «2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development».
The potential offered by peacebuilding
The significance of peacebuilding in terms of migration can be split into four stages: The first stage concerns flight as a result of fighting against certain political or ethnic groups and their members: Peacebuilding draws particularly on mediation processes and local ceasefire agreements and follows an inclusive approach wherever possible, aiming to involve all parties either directly or indirectly. This leads to agreements that take account of traditional governance structures, consider the needs of the various groups that make up the population, and thus give people the opportunity to stay after the violence has ended.
The second stage concerns the situation of the people fleeing: Mediation, in particular, gives peace-building privileged access to armed groups that provide crucial support for or even actively participate in human trafficking, as is the case in the Sahel. Although enlightening these groups about the rights of refugees is not normally at the focus of the peacebuilding, it could be an incentive for armed groups to pledge their respect for migrants’ dignity and rights, especially as they want to be recognized and taken seriously at international level too. This approach is very delicate, but it would be worth reviewing. There have already been cases of this in humanitarian mediation.
The third stage concerns migrants returning home: During peace agreement negotiations, people in refugee camps and camps for internally displaced persons are asked about their concerns, which then must be included and guaranteed in the agreement. They are questioned, in particular, about the conditions that must be fulfilled before they would consider returning home after a violent conflict. This approach has been adopted in Mali, but it has not yet led to mass returns as the peace process has so far stagnated and very little trust in state institutions and non-governmental groups has been generated.
The fourth stage concerns transitional justice and dealing with the past: Conflicts, flight, and returning home are associated with traumatic experiences that not only affect individuals, but also entire popu-lation groups, state and private institutions, and their staff (police, military, etc.). Restoring peace involves dealing with the past, which includes the right to know the truth, experience justice, and receive any compensation required, as well as certain guarantees designed to create stability. These measures can build trust, paving the way for a return to the country of origin.
On the road to a «Global Compact on Migration»
In the (inter)national policy dialog, three key points are emerging: (1) State administrations and, in particular, political actors are seeking to control migration. (2) Civil society actors are focusing on defending human rights and establishing humane conditions for those being expelled or those already seeking refuge. (3) The UN Agenda 2030 has both the countries of origin and the destination countries in mind and aims to satisfy the various interests of the UN member states. The UN is striving to bring these wide-ranging interests together under a global framework supported by all states: By drawing up the two agreements for refugees (Global Compact on Refugees) and migration (Global Compact on Migration), it is keen to initiate a broad dialog that unites migration, mobility, and sustainable development, all underpinned by human rights.
On a global level, the Agenda 2030 points out the positive significance of migration and its contribution to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in more than 10 subobjectives. However, their implementation in the fight against poverty and in conflict management is being met with reactive migration management at national level. At global level, this dissent needs to be dealt with and overcome within the framework of the agreements. Civil society actors are calling for an improvement in the protection of migrants in international regulations and for a continuation of the dialog at national level. For Switzerland, this means that the state and non-governmental actors involved need to come together quickly in a policy dialog surrounding the Global Compact on Migration in order to dis-cuss the challenges and work out recommendations that are as practical as possible. Platforms like mdplatform.ch and KOFF can lend a hand in this respect.
