Teaching about migrants and refugees of West African countries: Humanitarian, security, and educational responses

• In Event: Practitioner Panel: Notes from the Field

Proposal

In 2015, the global human mobility surpassed 244 million, growing at a rate faster than the world’s population. The majority of the migrants moved voluntarily, but 65 million people were forcibly displaced, including 21 million refugees, 41 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 3 million asylum-seekers (IOM 2017a; UNHCR 2016a). Over half of the displaced people were children. Among them, only 50% refugee children had access to primary education and 22 % adolescents had access to lower secondary school. In addition, 7 million refugees were in protracted situation (UNHCR 2016b); therefore it is critical to think beyond a refugee’s basic survival and make sure that refugees have access to education.

In Africa, West Africa is the region with the largest migrant stock (6.6 million in 2015). Labor mobility has significantly increased last decade in search of better opportunities, which is supported by the regional economic integration efforts led by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). It is not only economic migration that characterizes this region. Sahel countries have received a large influx of returnees with arms from Libya. Particularly the situation in northern Mali’s displacement of people affected the regional migration, border management and community stabilization (IOM 2017b). Furthermore, displacement due to the Boko Haram insurgency reached almost 3 million in four countries - Nigeria, Niger, Cameroon and Chad, including more than 2 million IDPs living in camps and host communities in northeast Nigeria (IOM 2017c).

Migrants and refugees “problem” that this paper is dealing with is concerned with the host societies’ economic burden and the impact on social order and national security. Yet, mobility is a human right and there is a moral obligation for the international community to help refugees. The International Organization for Migration (IOM) identifies one of the main challenges in creating an effective integration policy is “to make sure that it intersects with other major policy areas, including the protection of migrants’ human rights and equal opportunities, employment and labor-market issues, regional development, national security, social cohesion, public health, education and naturalization and citizenship issues (IOM 2017d).”

Responding to the intersectoral and multicultural concerns, the learning objective of this paper is to reflect on the context that led to the rapidly growing migration trend, potential social problems associated with the migration, the role of education, particularly of civic education to help solving the migrants and refugees “problem,” and to explore ways to assess the effectiveness of civic education activities for West African countries. The paper also aims to describe some good practices in promoting better understanding regarding mutual perceptions of migrants and refugees in a host society, with a view to promoting the enduring locally-developed solutions.

The paper specifically examines the following questions:

(1) What are the major characteristics, issues and needs of migrants and refugees of the West African countries?
(2) What is the role of civic education to help solve the problem of migrants and refugees of the West African countries?
(3) How can we effectively deliver civic education for the West African migrants and refugees?
(4) What kinds of assessment of civic education exist and what further efforts are needed for the West African countries?
(5) What is the role of governments and partners to solve the migrants and refugees’ “problem” for the West African countries?

Three approaches to the migrants and refugees “problem” come together, which contribute to sustainable peace and just world: (1) addressing the needs of migration and refugees; (2) strengthening crime prevention; and (3) ensuring inclusive education for social integration. This three-pronged approach is supported by the recent international commitments, led by the United Nations agencies: the New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants (A/RES/71/1) which ensures education for all children and combats xenophobia, racism and discrimination against refugees and migrants; the Doha Declaration (A/RES/70/174), which acknowledges the education’s fundamental role to promote crime prevention, a culture of lawfulness, human rights and respect for cultural identities; and Education 2030, which emphasizes the need to develop resilient education systems in the face of conflicts and natural disasters (UNESCO 2015).

A literature review on migration, refugees, security and education shows that some countries in West Africa have already integrated civic education into their policies, curricula and teaching practices, but further efforts are needed in reaching out-of-school populations, advocacy and expansion of good practices, and the assessment of the impact of these interventions.


Bibliography

A/RES/70/174 Doha Declaration on Integrating Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in the Wider United Nations Agenda to Address Social and Economic Challenges and to Promote the Rule of Law at the National and International Levels, and Public Participation, 17 December 2015.

A/RES/71/1 The New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, 3 October 2016.

IOM (2017a) Global migration trends factsheet. http://gmdac.iom.int/global-migration-trends-factsheet. Accessed 12 Apr 2017.

IOM (2017b) West and Central Africa: Regional migration context. https://www.iom.int/west-and-central-africa. Accessed 12 Apr 2017.

IOM (2017c) Lake Chad basin displacement affects nearly three million people in four countries. https://www.iom.int/news/lake-chad-basin-displacement-affects-nearly-three-million-people-four-countries-iom. Accessed 7 May 2017.

IOM (2017d) Migrant integration. https://www.iom.int/migrant-integration. Accessed 9 May 2017

UNESCO (2015) Education 2030: Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action Towards inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning for all. Paris: UNESCO.

UNHCR (2016a) Global Trends Forced Displacement in 2015. UNHCR, Geneva.

UNHCR.(2016b) Missing Out: Refugee Education in Crisis. Geneva: UNHCR.

Author

• Akemi Yonemura, Dakar, Senegal