Why refugee voices matter in policymaking
Speakers also discussed how to bridge the gap between rhetoric and reality when it comes to refugee participation, a key area of research at the Kaldor Centre.
Senior Director for Advocacy Strategy at Refugees International Mohammed Naeem said we were experiencing an era where policymaking is shaped by fear and misinformation that pushes people toward extreme views.
“We are reckoning with a crisis of truth and trust,” he said. “The next evolution of the system won’t come from Canberra, New York, Geneva or Washington alone. It will come from communities like the more than 170 refugee welcome zones across Australia.”
Mohammed arrived in the US as a young child after fleeing Afghanistan. Drawing on his own refugee journey and his role in shaping policy, he called for refugees to be central participants in decisions affecting their lives.
“We are gifted communities who have faced that trial, who have seen those bombs, who have travelled those lands. Refugees have a level of strategic foresight that can iron out the real knots that policymaking has produced.”
Prof. Ghezelbash also emphasised the value of global migration. “Refugees bring skills, resilience, knowledge and enterprise that enrich societies – proof that when protection is upheld, everyone gains,” he said.
“Building bridges requires recognising and elevating refugee expertise and leadership. People with lived experience of displacement understand the problems within our systems – and the solutions needed to overcome them.”
Defending human rights and common values
President of the Australian Human Rights Commission Hugh de Kretser said while Australia had gained so much from refugees, our actions towards them continued to be hardline.
“Australia’s policies remain amongst the harshest in the world,” he said. “Instead of protecting people who come to our shores by boat, successive Australian governments have harmed them – intercepting them, turning them back, detaining those that do reach Australia and transferring them to remote offshore islands.”
He urged the Australian government to adopt four measures, which would redirect political, financial and diplomatic resources towards a better approach.
“Firstly, engaging with regional countries like Indonesia and Malaysia to improve conditions and legal protections for people seeking asylum,” he said. “Secondly, defer the billions of dollars we spend on deterrence measures to increase funding to UNHCR and refugee-led organisations.
“Thirdly, we should increase the number of refugees we take from the UN resettlement pool.
“And finally, we should urge other nations with the capacity to do so to follow our lead, instead of inspiring others to adopt harsh deterrence measures that breach people’s rights.”