Chapter 23 Chapter Summary

This chapter explores the juxtaposition between international development policy and practice and global issues with respect to refugees. Historically, refugees have been, at best, an afterthought with respect to international development policy especially within large donor institutions. At worst, refugees in the 1980s and 1990s appeared to be deliberately and negatively targeted by international development policy. Recently, this trend appears to be reversing with the introduction of the Millennium Development Goals and, later, the Sustainable Development Goals. Key development actors such as the World Bank, who have historically not focussed on refugees, are now placing a new emphasis on refugees in their development policies. Perhaps not coincidentally, there is a greater understanding now as to who is a refugee and how they interact and contribute to societies.

The chapter begins with a description of specific definitions of who constitutes a refugee, and this is contrasted with internally displaced people or migrants. The goal is for the reader to understand who is a refugee and the rights to which they are entitled under international law. The chapter finishes with a discussion on raising critical questions about how the relationship between refugees and international development policy is being framed in contemporary debates and policy discussions.