Paper details
| Paper authors | Susanne Jaspars |
| In panel on | Migration, Protracted Crisis and Humanitarianism |
| Paper presenter(s) will be presenting |
In-Person / |
Abstract
Darfuris were amongst the thousands of migrants and refugees arriving in Europe in 2014, thus becoming part of Europe’s so-called ‘refugee crisis’. Rather than creating a crisis in Europe, however, their flight is a result of the protracted and ongoing humanitarian crisis in Darfur and in the region. Migration to Europe is both a new phase in Darfur’s humanitarian crisis and a new trend in Darfuri migration which has long been a key part of their livelihoods and a response to food insecurity and famine. The conflict from 2003 onwards resulted in millions being displaced, and most are still displaced fourteen years later. This paper examines the historical, political, and humanitarian dimension of migration to Europe and the risks that Darfuris face at each stage of their journey. It argues that migration to Europe is a result of a failure to address the political dimension of a protracted crisis, and that Darfuri journeys to Europe reveal fundamental new challenges to humanitarianism. These include migration and asylum policies that risk complicity with refugee producing regimes and that create further humanitarian crises and through which helping migrants becomes a crime. Darfuris, as some of the poorest refugees coming to Europe, are amongst the most vulnerable. We examine the functions of some of these failures and the implications for humanitarianism.
Submitted by Susanne Jaspars and Margie Buchanan-Smith
