Claim OwnershipFaith and displacement (Forced Migration Review 48)
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The role of faith in the humanitarian sector is not easy to measure. Faiths generally advocate welcoming the stranger and there are many organisations and individuals inspired by their faith or religion to provide protection and assistance. Yet it is easier to measure the activities inspired by faith than to measure the difference that having that faith makes, and secularly inspired standards for such activities can appear to be in tension with the faith inspiration. FMR 48 includes 36 articles on 'Faith' plus seven 'general' articles.
See more at: http://www.fmreview.org/faith
See more at: http://www.fmreview.org/faith
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An introductory note on FMR 48, 'Faith and Responses to Displacement', from the Editors.
In the Central African Republic, where religion has been used as a tool to divide and manipulate the population, religious leaders have come together to promote tolerance and forgiveness as a basis for rebuilding peaceful cohabitation.
Faith leaders, faith-based organisations and local faith communities play a major role in the protection of people affected by conflict, disaster and displacement. Humanitarians, however, have only recently begun to fully appreciate their protection work.
Friendship and compassionate companionship with the most vulnerable provide a powerful type of humanitarian service giving priority to personal accompaniment.
Local faith communities are able to offer assistance to asylum seekers in ways that faith-based organisations, constrained by eligibility criteria, are not.
Spiritual life is a priority in many conflict-affected communities. It is rarely prioritised by aid agencies, yet may be central to the formation and maintaining of strong and effective cross-community relationships.
Faith-based organisations take from their religious traditions both strong motivations & access to a long history of thinking concerning social and political issues. This can make them ideally placed to fill the gaps in the implementation of human rights
There is good reason to engage faith-based organisations and local faith communities in humanitarian response but doing so raises challenging issues for the interpretation of humanitarian principles in what some see as a post-secular age.
CAFOD’s ability to partner with other FBOs and communities brings significant advantages for its work with displaced people. However, modern-day humanitarianism does not always sit comfortably alongside some of the practices of the major religions.
Catholic Social Teaching’s emphasis on the dignity of the human person is a lens that Catholic institutions use to evaluate how we as a global society enhance or threaten the dignity of the human person, especially the most vulnerable of people.
A secular NGO’s experiences in south Lebanon demonstrate that it is possible for non-faith-based organisations to develop productive relationships with faith-based actors without compromising their secular identities.
Working with religious leaders is an essential element of serving local communities, as is an understanding of the religious life of local communities and how belief influences their decision making.
An organisation based on faith will listen and try to understand when unjust laws, traditions, cultures or ideologies cause refugees to flee.
A new movement of Christian activists in Australia is using radical direct action to challenge their country’s policy of mandatory detention of asylum seeker children.
Caritas Luxembourg’s work with refugees, IDPs and migrants in Colombia, Lebanon and Luxembourg offers some examples of the ways in which a faith-based organisation may be advantaged or disadvantaged by its faith basis.
While flexible in partnering with agencies best placed to assist affected populations, Luxembourg requires its partners to adhere to humanitarian principles.
When secular organisations are responding to the needs of displaced people, the religious practices and needs of the communities may not be high on the list of things to be thought about.
Seven years ago, a strategic partnership between the United Methodist Committee on Relief and Muslim Aid in Sri Lanka was formalised into a worldwide partnership agreement. Why did the partnership not achieve its goals?
Church asylum, or sanctuary, is a practice to support, counsel and give shelter to refugees who are threatened with deportation to inhumane living conditions, torture or even death. This practice can be located at the interface of benevolence and politics
Despite the anti-refugee sentiment demonstrated by Canada’s recent legislative changes and the government’s hardening attitude towards those in sanctuary, the spirit of resistance and community engagement is alive and well in Canada.
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