Forced Migration in the OIC Member Countries:
Policy Framework Adopted by Host Countries
20
of the global refugee population, and their unique vulnerabilities mean that the effects of
displacement can be even more significant. Refugee children often have limited access to
education, either because of limited capacity in schools or because financial circumstances
compel them to work to help support their families.39 As a result, children experience
disrupted and curtailed education trajectories, with consequences for their future economic
situation. Refugee children are also at heightened risk of being forced into early marriage.
Communities hosting forced migrants are also subject to strain, particularly on key services
like education or health care. The sheer increase in the volume of people residing in particular
areas may also put particular pressure on the housing system, leading to housing shortages or
increased rents. For governments, fears among the public of labor and economic competition
from forced migrant populations or of security risks can create political uncertainty.
Forced migration can, however, also bring potential advantages to host communities, some of
which may be lost because of restrictive legal frameworks or limitations of refugees’ activities.
In certain circumstances, refugees can be an economic boon, bringing with them human and
financial capital, as well as money from international donors. Somali refugees in Kenya have,
for example, revitalized the Nairobi neighborhood of Eastleigh, transforming it into an
economic hub.40 The Malaysian economy has benefited from the cheap labor Rohingya and
other refugees from Southeast Asia have provided, although the benefits to refugees who are
often the victims of exploitation are more tenuous.41
For the international community, refugees left to languish in protracted displacement
represent a waste of human capital and potential. To date, the little international assistance
that is available has usually been limited to humanitarian "care and maintenance" support
that simply meets refugees' immediate needs, but does not assist refugees to integrate or
develop the means to support themselves longer term. Providing continued care and
maintenance in the form of humanitarian assistance and support can become difficult to
sustain as displacement stretches over decades.
It is thus in the interest of all concerned to ensure that refugees and other forced migrants are
able to swiftly access not just safety from refoulement but protection that allows them the
opportunity to resume something of a normal life, including opportunities to earn a living,
secure housing, and obtain an education for their children. Doing so requires not only action
on the part of states to provide the necessary legal mechanisms and implementing agencies,
but also support from the international community to assist states in meeting their obligations
both to provide protection and to find a sustainable place for refugees in their communities,
labor markets, and societies longer term.
39 Child labor is a significant concern in refugee situations. UNICEF has estimated that 10 percent of Syrian refugee children
are working. UNHCR, “Children at Work” in The Future of Syria: Refugee Children in Crisis (UN High Commissioner for
Refugees, 2013), 35-41,
40 Sara Pavanello, Samir Elhawary and Sara Pantuliano, Hidden and exposed: Urban refugees in Nairobi, Kenya (working
paper for Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG), March 2010),
41 The Economist, “The Long Wait – Malaysia’s Rohingyas get little help from the government,” June 15, 2015,