Advancing Refugee Mobility: A Proposal for the Global Compact on Refugees

Refugees lose the ability to make decisions about mobility in three ways. First, they are forced to be mobile—as they flee their homes for safety. Second, they are often denied their right freedom of movement within a country of first asylum. Third, they are generally denied opportunities to move to another state (through resettlement or some other “legal pathway.”) That is, refugees are pushed out and then locked in.

These limitations on mobility restrict refugee efforts to rebuild their lives, restore selfreliance, connect with family, pursue education, and plan for the future. And because most refugee situations are now protracted, the cumulative effect is dramatic. Third countries assume no obligations to permit onward movement of refugees; indeed, most establish physical and legal obstacles to such movement. The result is that refugees are left to languish for years in countries of first asylum, dependent on (decreasing levels of) international assistance.