Diasporas for Development: The Cases of Unskilled, Recently Resettled Burundian and Sudanese Refugees in Australia Aimé Saba, Policy Officer, Asia Regional Programs, AusAID Post-graduate student, International Law, Australian National University (ANU) E: aime.saba@ausaid.gov.au The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent those of the Australian Government s Overseas Aid program (AusAID).
Content 1. Context 2. Understanding of challenges faced by conflict-generated diasporas 3. Remittances Burden on low skilled refugees migrants from failed and fragile states 4. Policy Considerations for Host Countries 5. Final Key Messages
Diasporas and Remittances
1. Context forced human migration Civil Wars and Extreme Poverty: Consequences and Legacies Globalisation and African Demographics More than half of Africa s population is young (under 25 years of age), [Dambisa Moyo, Dead Aid, 2009) Refugee Resettlement Policies & International Protection Regimes Australia s resettlement program: one of the best in the world (UNHCR Statement, 2009) but The Government needs to restrategize their [resettlement] services to see how we can provide better services so that integration can be a quicker process (Interview: Agui l de Chut Deng, Sudanese advocate in Australia)
1. Context Burundi and Sudan: unskilled refugees have to rebuild states which failed to educate them, and were responsible for forcing them to leave their countries States kill its own citizens, rendering others stateless: deaths post 1945 from internal war and state-sponsored terror than interstate warfare States can actively be source of security threats to own population state terror, genocide, ethnic cleansing, arbitrary violence, human rights violations Weak or failing states unwilling and unable to protect individual security? Humanitarian intervention and role of international community? 2001 International Commission Responsibility to Protect
1. Context State Building A endogenous process to develop capacity, institutions and legitimacy of the state driven by state-society relationships. Positive State Building Processes These involve reciprocal relations between a state that delivers services for its people and social and political groups who constructively engage with their state. Education and Health care are the minimum public services that citizens in stable, modern states expect. In Post-Conflict States and Fragile States, these services and others are not provided. The burden falls on the member of the family (nuclear or extended) to provide these.
2. Understanding Challenges of Conflict-Generated Diasporas Remittances sent for peacebuilding/reconstruction Remittances sent in the context of symbolic ties and traumatic memories Remittances are, in some cases, a major part of rebel finance (Is liberation effort = peace spoiling? (Newman and Richmond))
2. Understanding Burundian and Sudanese Refugees in Australia The Story of Conflict today Over one million dead and up to 50 million people surviving as anonymous refugees in tents and shacks far from their homes; illiterate eight-year-olds in battle fatigues clutching AK47s, learning to kill from mercenaries paid in pockets full of precious stones; countless amputees, victims of cheap landmines covering wide tracts of land across every continent; thousands of rape babies, born into a world where nobody wants themthese are the realities of war and conflict in the 1990s. (Kumar Rupesinghe and Sanam Anderlini).
Typology of African Diasporas 1950-1960s: Educated Africans 1970s: Political activists and human rights advocates, minorities (South Africa, Rwanda, Mauritania) Post-1990s: international system & internal conflicts: Massive human displacements from intrastate civil wars (Sierra Leone, Liberia, Somalia, Ethiopia/Eritrea, Burundi, Sudan, Rwanda, ex-zaire, Zimbabwe) Post-2000s: economic migrants (skilled and unskilled from Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Senegal, Mozambique, Zambia, Malawi, etc) (Ratha, 2009)
Globalization coexisting with extreme poverty and conflict
4. Remittance Burden Remittance-receiving households Changes in living conditions and lifestyles Impacts of regular financial remittances on the sender are considerable: Senders cannot afford to spend money on travel or other social, sports, educational, etc because in some cases, the remittances take up to 30% of senders (already low) incomes
Remittance Burden : Gender Dimensions Household livelihood strategy Women Diasporas seen as good at remembering the family Women remit larger amounts than men Some men claim it is easier for women to find jobs in hospitality and tourism sector in Australia Men s income levels higher than women s (men are easily recruited in factory jobs) Disparities in education and skills levels hard to establish
Remittance Burden Household livelihood strategy Strategies of minimizing the cost of accommodation (men) Strategies of minimizing the costs of groceries Strategies of minimizing the costs of social, sporting and cultural activities Sacrificing education goals Continuous postponing of education Sudan: A self-determination struggle aiming for independence, secession, autonomy or control or participation in government - Many low skilled diasporas plan their education goals in relation to their plans to go back (one day eventually) to South Sudan and contribute to its reconstruction.
A Burundian Refugee Family in Australia
4. Remittance Burden Situations of extreme poverty in receiving countries Burundi: Returnees/repatriated refugees (e.g. from Tanzania to Burundi) become part of extended families of diasporas for having shared struggles in refugee camps. Sudan: - A perception in African Countries that Australia s GDP in very high and therefore, migrants to Australia are well off, compared with those in Europe (This ignores disparities in education and skills levels)
4. Remittance Burden Burundi: Most remittances go towards rural development and rural livelihoods. Expectations are too unrealistic: refugees populations, in some cases, victims of torture and trauma, are expected to be productive members of the economic society (host country) and expected to send large amounts of remittances straight away, while entering Australia on the lowest rungs of the socio-economic ladder. Sudan: -Most remittances destined to South Sudan (Nimule, Yei, Juba) are spent in Uganda and Kenya (Kampala and Nairobi) -Due to lack of infrastructure (financial institutions), South Sudanese have to travel to neighboring countries (Kenya, Uganda) to receive remittances and purchase goods and services there -No evidence that remittances go to contributing to rural development in South Sudan.
Situations of extreme poverty in post-conflict societies (Burundi)
5. Acting to ease the burden of unskilled resettled refugees The urgent duty to intervene well in post-conflict conflicts/failed states International Community? Dealing with Spoilers (war economies, conflict entrepreneurs, etc) Official Development Aid (ODA) remains at 0.5% whereas low income resettled refugees remit up to 30% of their incomes Tax relief/deduction for regular remitting refugees in host countries Skilled Diasporas Advocacy for state re-building and reforms Remittances (currently remit lower than unskilled but perhaps outcomes better?)
5. Implications for Policy Is money enough to solve the problems of post-conflict countries? - Share not only resources, but also IDEAS on Conflict Prevention, Good Governance, etc - transparency and accountability of international corporations - Kimberly Process (Diamond): voluntary, non-binding. - A Kimberly Process for other minerals (oil, natural gaz)? -Countries that depend on the sale of primary commodities are more likely to have civil wars. During conflicts (and after), government spending shifts from social sectors to defence and associated industries with it. These actions are hardest upon poor populations and persist long after conflicts end. (Humphreys, 2003, Economics and Violent Conflicts)
5. Implications for Policy Sudanese and Burundian Diasporas as citizens and taxpayers in their host countries - What obstacles do diasporas face in advocating for good development aid donorship by their host countries? (Citoyens des deux mondes ou citoyens de nulle part?) -OECD target of ODA (0.5% of GDP) remains low -Global Civil Society to continue pressing for reforms of the international trading system (anything else is simply liddism (Paul Rogers))- There is a clear link between fair, open, rules-based, nondiscriminatory and predictable trading & financial system and poverty reduction and achievement of MDGs goals.
DAC Principles for Good International Engagement in Fragile States 1. Take the context as a starting point 2. Ensure all activities do no harm 3. Focus on state building as the central objective 4. Prioritize prevention 5. Recognize the links between political, security, and development objectives 6. Promote non-discrimination as a basis for inclusive and stable societies 7. Align with local priorities in different ways and in different contexts 8. Agree on practical co-ordination mechanisms between international actors 9. Act fast but stayed engaged long enough to give success a chance 10. Avoid pockets of exclusion ( aid orphans ) Source: (www.oecd.org/dac/incaf/principles).
Other final key messages Diasporas should not be left to bear the greatest burden in reconstructing a fractured world - The are 4.9 million Internally Displaced People in Sudan. (International Displacement Monitoring Centre, 2009 Stats) - Core UN budget: $1.5 bn (i.e. 0.15% of global military spending and Iraq War s cost estimated already at $1 trillion (Stiglitz, 2008). External and local actors have to work together effectively to assist countries facing fragility and extreme poverty If countries receiving remittances are unwilling to undertake structural reforms, the impact of efforts of diasporas to alleviate poverty will be modest. Governments can put in place incentives for low skilled diasporas to continue with education (e.g. tax relief) Tax deduction system for donation to charities can be extended to diasporas who remit to Africa for development purposes
Other final key messages Sudanese and Burundian refugees, although belonging to the category of low and unskilled categories of diasporas in Australia, are not helpless victims depending on resettlement agencies and international organizations for their well-being. - These migrants are active agents adapting to new circumstances, and shaping their own futures. (Diana J. Shandy, Globalising Sudanese Migration,2007).
Other Final Messages I sponsor a lot of Sudanese refugees and some of whom have finished university and I am proud of them they have made a difference to themselves and to the Australian Government, and, may be in future, to the world... (Interview: 2007, Agui l de Chut Deng, Sudanese Advocate in Australia)
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