Standing with Refugees Means Listening to Them

As we approach World Refugee Day and grapple with record levels of displacement, there is a lot of discussion about refugees. But to improve the global response to the refugee crisis and combat negative misperceptions, we need more discussion with refugees.

Listening to the voices, ideas, and needs of refugees must be part of the job for anyone who works on these issues.

Sana Mustafa, a Syrian refugee whom I recently joined on a panel, powerfully summed it up, saying: “Nothing about us is without us. You cannot shape my life without me.”

She encouraged the audience to recognize refugees not just as victims or storytellers, but as valuable partners in a community who deserve meaningful engagement. Sana is a founding member of the Network for Refugee Voices, a refugee-led coalition working to increase refugee engagement with the international community.

This month, the network will host a Global Summit of Refugees in Geneva – the first summit in history designed by refugees and for refugees, with 80 percent of attendees being refugees or from refugee-led organizations. And, just last week, the Kakuma camp in Kenya hosted the world’s first TEDx conference in a refugee camp, enabling refugees to speak about their lives and work to tens of thousands of people around the world.

Efforts like these to elevate the voices of refugees are important for a number of reasons. First, we can’t meet the needs of refugees if we don’t know what they are, and no one knows them better than refugees themselves.

On a macro level, this means we need to strengthen the collection and use of data on displaced people – a tough and sensitive task, given these are vulnerable populations on the move. Yet it’s essential that refugees and their needs are counted. OCHA’s Centre for Humanitarian Data aims to improve the use of data in decision-making, and Data2X, hosted at the UN Foundation, and other partners are working on these issues.

On a personal level, it means that we need to engage and listen to refugees as we work to develop policies and programs to support them.

In April, I joined a UN Foundation team to visit Jordan and learn about the United Nations’ work helping refugees in the country. The humanitarian workers we met, from registration officers on the front lines of ensuring that refugees can access critical services to nurses delivering babies in the Za’atari camp, make a point to listen to refugees.

As the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has written, “In working with refugees, the internally displaced, and stateless people, UNHCR and its partner NGOs are answerable to them and strive to ensure their voices, perspectives, and priorities are heard and acted on.” Additionally, strengthening the inclusion of refugees in decision-making has been a key theme in thematic discussions related to the Global Compact for Refugees, noting: “The early inclusion of refugees in national and local services, systems, and development initiatives can lead to improved outcomes for refugees and host communities.

Huda, a UNHCR case worker we met in Jordan, told us the favorite part of her job is working directly with refugees and asking them what they want, saying “I feel proud when they approach me and when they trust I’ll support them.”

In both hi- and low-tech ways, from one-on-one conversations to cutting-edge innovation, the UN is working to increase refugees’ involvement in decision-making. For example, biometric registration and iris scan technology are helping Syrian families in Jordan access services, including shop for what they want and need at the grocery story.

Elevating the voices of refugees is essential to meeting their needs; it’s also essential to dispelling misconceptions and stereotypes.  

The 2018 Aurora Humanitarian Index found that “people are still getting it wrong on the refugee crisis,” underestimating how many refugees are children and overestimating how many refugees are hosted by developed countries.

We also too often see in the public dialogue that refugees are mischaracterized as economic and security risks to host communities. This is just plain wrong – morally and factually.

For example, a report released by Tent.org in 2016 found that investing one euro in welcoming refugees can yield nearly two euros in economic benefits within five years. Similarly, Notre Dame researchers found that welcoming refugees to the U.S. results in long-term economic benefit for the country. By helping share the stories and voices of refugees, we can change attitudes. Projects like those that give cameras to refugee children to document their experiences are a good start.

As a global community, we have much more work to do to engage with and support the 65 million people who have been forced to flee their homes. This World Refugee Day, let’s stand in solidarity with refugees by listening to them.