We should think laterally about how to accept more refugees

First published by the Sydney Morning Herald on 31 March 2016.

This week, senior ministers, ambassadors, UN officials and civil society leaders gathered in Geneva to find creative solutions to help millions of Syrian refugees.

The UN refugee agency's high-level meeting on global responsibility-sharing for Syrian refugees called on governments to increase resettlement places and open up new pathways for humanitarian admission. 

This is "a global responsibility that must be widely shared until peace prevails again", said the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi. He appealed to world leaders not to miss the opportunity to give "at least some Syrian refugees an opportunity to move on to better lives". 

Yet the result was underwhelming: a small increase in resettlement numbers, and nominal support for alternative admission schemes. UNHCR could not secure its modest goal of getting governments to commit to assisting just 10 per cent of Syrian refugees – 480,000 people – over the next three years. Many countries, including Australia, simply highlighted their existing financial and resettlement contributions but declined to offer anything more.

Resettling refugees plays a crucial role in international protection. Australia has long been a leader in this area, voluntarily bringing in thousands of refugees each year from overseas and enabling them to stay permanently. Resettlement is a complement to the protection Australia owes to asylum seekers who arrive spontaneously.

But resettlement is just one tool in the toolbox. Without more commitments by more countries to take more refugees, resettlement cannot provide the answer on its own. Ninety-nine per cent of the world's refugees will never be resettled. As the UN refugee agency reiterated this week, we urgently need some complementary strategies. These would not displace governments' obligations to refugees under international law, but would add more tools to the toolbox. 

First, governments should create more humanitarian pathways for admission. This could include humanitarian visas to get people out of harm's way, medical evacuation, and private sponsorship schemes. For example, since 1978 Canada has allowed private citizens to sponsor refugee families to come to Canada. This has helped the local community to feel directly invested in supporting refugees, and has provided opportunities and protection to those in need. Australia has been running a small pilot private sponsorship scheme since 2013, and there is sufficient interest to support an expanded program. Schemes like this may in turn generate the political will to increase government-led resettlement.

Other countries (Argentina, Brazil, France and Switzerland) have developed humanitarian visas to enable asylum seekers to travel onwards and apply for asylum – and at this week's meeting, some additional Latin American countries agreed to do so. Brazil has pioneered a fast-track entry system for Syrians, who can apply for humanitarian visas in Brazilian embassies across the border. The visa is granted for humanitarian reasons "resulting from the deterioration of people's living conditions on Syrian territory or in the border regions as a result of the armed conflict in the Syrian Arab Republic". It is broader than the refugee definition under international law, and responds to people's immediate needs. A further 30 countries have created other humanitarian pathways for admission, assisting more than 179,000 refugees so far. 

Nevertheless, with more than 4.8 million Syrian refugees and 6.6 million displaced internally, a lot more needs to be done.

This is why, secondly, governments should create other pathways for admission as well. This means using other migration categories more cleverly. For example, governments could foster opportunities for education and training through academic scholarships and apprenticeships (as in Canada, the Czech Republic and Germany). They could facilitate labour mobility to let Syrian refugees travel safely to pursue employment. They could enhance opportunities for family reunion – as a few governments agreed to do this week. These approaches would not only provide safe and secure outcomes for Syrian refugees, but in turn could help to incubate a post-war Syrian economy by training and skilling people who may one day return. 

Research from around the world shows that host communities typically benefit greatly from the skills and innovation that refugees bring. In some cases, new markets and supply chains are created, and greater economic gains ensue for everyone.  Facilitating employment and educational opportunities for refugees helps them to re-establish their sense of dignity, normality and purpose. And enabling refugees to live and work alongside locals enhances integration and understanding, and provides a better starting point for children by making them feel part of the host community. This creates a shared sense of connection and purpose.

Thirdly, governments should remove legal or administrative barriers that act as technical obstacles to admission. They could defer or waive application fees, ease documentation requirements, simplify application forms and procedures, and expedite processing. They should also abolish carrier sanctions that impose hefty penalties on airlines and others who transport people without requisite travel documents. A refugee fleeing persecution or serious human rights abuses is unlikely to have a visa, so is effectively compelled to turn to people smugglers and covert forms of movement. Dangerous journeys could be avoided by creating safe and legal routes to protection. 

The necessity of international co-operation to address the consequences of the humanitarian crisis in Syria is undeniable. It is magnified when the protection needs of refugees from other conflict areas – such as Yemen, Central African Republic and South Sudan – are added. If governments step up now to share the responsibility for protecting refugees, they will in time reap the social, economic and demographic benefits that this will undoubtedly bring.  As the UN Secretary-General told the Geneva gathering: "Today, they are refugees. Tomorrow, they can be students and professors, scientists and researchers, workers and caregivers."