Background

The Middle East is home to numerous refugee camps, and given current geopolitical and climate trends, their numbers are likely to grow. 

The Syrian refugee crisis, for instance, was triggered in part by a decade-long drought that forced farmers into cities in search of economic opportunities, ultimately leading to a catastrophic uprising. The people in Gaza may soon require unprecedented levels of international refugee support. Jordan hosts 2 million Palestinian refugees, primarily descendants of those who fled in 1948. Meanwhile, a third of Lebanon’s population consists of Syrian refugees, straining a country already hampered by a weak government, a struggling economy and the destruction of its primary harbor. 

Managing refugee camps necessitates detailed statistics on population numbers, age distribution, and medical needs, alongside economic and sociological planning. Questions arise about who is best suited to provide security and education and how to measure the success of any off-boarding processes. A comprehensive comparative study of existing examples is essential to better inform governments and NGOs.

Project Description

This project team will describe and contrast practices and outcomes at refugee camps in order to inform future management structures and practices. 

Team members will select three to six refugee camps in the Middle East and North/Central Africa and document how food, medicine, education, housing, security, off-boarding and governance are managed. Using news reports, data and interviews from the United Nations High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR), interviews with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and interviews with people currently or recently in refugee camps, the team will write papers describing the history of the refugee community, its political situation within the host country, the management practices for the camp, and the costs and outcomes for running the camp.

The team will then engage in comparative analysis across camps to draw conclusions about what management structures work best under different conditions. Ultimately, the team’s outputs will be shared with the UNHCR to help inform camp management decision-making and practices across contexts.

Anticipated Outputs

Papers on practices at specific camps across a range of management models and sociopolitical contexts; comparative analysis and reports on camp management best practices under different conditions

Student Opportunities

Ideally, this team will include 3 graduate/professional students and 12 undergraduate students with interests and/or experience in economics, history, public policy, sociology, statistics, history, public health, organizational management, migration, international law and Middle Eastern cultures.

Team members will learn skills in academic research, knowledge synthesis, writing, oral presentations and generative AI. They will also have the opportunity to learn from guest speakers from the UNHCR, USAID and other groups that interface with the refugee community. 

Timing

Fall 2024 – Spring 2025

• Fall 2024: Identify 3-6 refugee communities and collect data on how refugees are managed; write papers describing camp community and management practices
• Spring 2025: Synthesize and compare findings; communicate outputs to stakeholders

Crediting

Academic credit available for fall and spring semesters