CPSA/ISA-Canada section on International Relations

C21(a) - Forced Migration and Global Refugee Politics

Date: Jun 4 | Time: 03:15pm to 04:45pm | Location:

Chair/Président/Présidente : Jasmin Habib (University of Waterloo)

Discussant/Commentateur/Commentatrice : Jasmin Habib (University of Waterloo)

The Problem with the Crime of Forced Migration as a Loophole to ICC Jurisdiction: Kirsten Fisher (University of Saskatchewan)
Abstract: On 6 September 2018, the Pre-Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Court decided that the Court may exercise jurisdiction over the alleged deportation of the Rohingya people from Myanmar to Bangladesh. While the crime of deportation occurred on the territory of Myanmar, which is not a state party to the Rome Statute and therefore not within the jurisdiction of the Court without UNSC referral, the movement of the deportation ended in Bangladesh, which is a state party. Once the Court determined that the state that receives the forcibly displaced can confer jurisdiction, the ground seemed to shift drastically in regards to the possible jurisdictional reach of the Court. This paper explores how this decision by the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber, reasonably read as extending the geographic jurisdiction of the Court beyond what was ever intended by the drafters of the Rome Statute, could have negative implications, particularly how this extension could further threaten some of the world’s most vulnerable.

Explaining the Varied Adoption of Financial Inclusion within the Global Refugee Regime Complex: Tyler Girard (University of Western Ontario)
Abstract: Since the late 2000s, we have witnessed the increasing convergence of the refugee regime complex and the global financial inclusion agenda. While financial inclusion (understood as the access to and use of basic financial services by all members of society) is often positioned as a key development idea, the expansion of cash transfer programs for refugees has created new linkages between and among humanitarian and development actors. While scholars have offered functionalist and critical explanations for this convergence, such accounts mask substantial variation with respect to the adoption of financial inclusion across cash transfer programs in the humanitarian context. This paper thus asks: What explains the varied incorporation of financial inclusion components across humanitarian responses? Through primary documents and purposive, elite interviews with technical experts and representatives from key donor agencies, international organizations, and international nongovernmental organizations, this paper develops a theoretical framework based on institutional constraints and ideational ties. On the one hand, regulations associated with the financial integrity regime create varying constraints on the long-term inclusion of refugees in formal financial systems. On the other, organizations vary in their openness to the idea of financial inclusion. Consequently, I demonstrate that financial inclusion elements are most likely to be incorporated within cash transfer programs when the institutional constraints are low and the participating organizations are proponents of financial inclusion. The paper thus advances our understanding of adaptation within evolving regime complexes.

Non-state Actors and Normative Change in the Refugee Regime: Kiran Banerjee (Dalhousie University)
Abstract: This project examines the politics and ethics of forced migration from historical and normative perspectives. The project begins with the pragmatic observation that of all the fields of migration governance it is the area of forced migration that is among the most developed in terms of norms and institutions. Yet at the same time, there is increasingly widespread recognition that the regime is in trouble, besieged by decreasing funding and fractured cooperation, which has created growing protection gaps. While the current ‘migration crisis’ undeniably raises profound moral concerns, there is a clear lack of political motivation among states to reform their legal responsibilities toward refugees. Moreover, some scholars have warned that attempting to entirely remake the refugee system anew under current circumstances would, if anything, likely weaken extant obligations and standards of protection. This poses a fundamental dilemma for normative theorists of forced migration: How can we practically address the ethical claims of refugees, given the unwillingness of states to act as agents of change? To address this impasse, I propose an alternative strategy that relies on expanding our analytic focus by moving ‘beyond’ an exclusive concern with the state. I do so by drawing attention to the historical role non-state actors outside the state have played in expanding the provision of refugee protection. By looking beyond the state, this project draws on work in international relations and migration studies to show how global institutions can represent significant sites of normative transformation in responding to the moral claims of refugees.