MESOP RESEARCH : THE FATAL WEAKNESS OF THE INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN SYSTEM

“Not Likely to Go Home: Syrian Refugees and the Challenges to Turkey — and the International Community” (Elizabeth Ferris and Kemal Kirisci, Brookings Institution)

“There is clearly an urgent need to revisit the issue of burden-sharing. Enhanced levels of funding are going to be necessary and a greater effort will need to be made to meet the funding targets of the UN’s 3RP 2015-2016 budget. Greater support is needed to help Turkey integrate refugees, especially with respect to their education, access to the labor market and health needs. The EU ought to have a special interest in supporting Turkey given that a large portion of the Syrian refugees who are attempting to make their way into the EU are actually coming from Turkey. The German Minister of Development Gerd Müller’s has called for supporting countries hosting Syrian refugees in the order of billions of Euros and raises the question of how can ‘the EU prove that it is a community of values.’

He warns that ‘If we don’t solve the problems there, the problems will come to us.’ Resettlement of refugees, especially the most vulnerable, as a traditional burden-sharing method will need to be taken more seriously. As discussed in the introduction of this report, the current level of resettlement is simply inadequate. It is difficult not to wonder if today’s “EU refugee crisis” would have reached such levels if there had been a serious and credible resettlement program currently in place. Lastly, the Syrian displacement crisis reveals the weaknesses and problems associated with the current international humanitarian system. The system requires an overhaul to achieve greater cost-effectiveness and efficiency in terms of meeting the needs of victims of displacement. The fact that the next World Humanitarian Summit will be held in Turkey in May 2016 may present a good occasion to address these challenges based on lessons from the Syrian displacement crisis.” http://www.brookings.edu/research/papers/2015/09/syrian-refugee-international-challenges-ferris-kirisci?cid=00900015020089101US0001-09281&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New%20Campaign&utm_term=%2AMideast%20Brief