Refugee Spaces: Are They Really Temporary?
June 21, New York, New York — The International Institute of Humanitarian Affair’s (IIHA) Design for Humanity Summit at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center Campus opened with a compelling humanitarian keynote address by Argentina Szabados, Regional Director for South-Eastern Europe, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. She quickly warned the sea of humanitarian pupils in the audience of the paradox of temporary refugee spaces: such occupied areas are homes, often permanent. Such a twist on words makes us all deeply question what ‘temporary’ truly means in this context.
Displacement is not time-bound, but is, too, fraught with contradiction and confusion. As shared by Director Brendan Cahill’s ‘Welcome,’ the number of displaced has risen in the last few years, reaching a skyrocketing 70 million in 2018. Thinking large, 1-in-7 people worldwide live in a makeshift home or refugee camp. These situations, often, last for years upon years; how, then, can we use rhetoric that assumes such spaces are interim and makeshift solutions?
The cliché that there is no place like home sounds quite familiar to many of us; home, ultimately, is existential for us all. It encompasses numerous attributes of our lives: not just a physical location, home is a community, the language we speak, and a marker for identity. To lose a home, then, because of violent conflict or disaster is one of the most profound shocks that a human can experience.
Szabados relayed a compelling point to the audience, one that truly got to the heart of the ‘temporary’ paradox: “There is nothing more permanent than a temporary settlement.” Such recognition of this fact must caution us all toward the rhetoric we use. If we assume temporary spaces really are, in fact, nonpermanent, there is little incentive to improve upon them. In other words, none of us will feel the need to consider the opportunities for design and areas in which real difference can manifest itself. After all, aren’t there more pressing matters than investing in spaces that are temporary solutions?
The fact of the matter is, however, that these settlements are home to the displaced for months, if not years at a time. Some may never return to their homes. To assume that they are temporary is to slight and lessen the discomfort, pain, and suffering felt by all displaced, insinuating that a return home is feasible, despite the realities of the complex nature of displacement.
Humans have an innate bias to be heavily influenced by the rhetoric and words we speak. The world of humanitarian crises in which refugees reside is not an issue that can be wished away; instead, adequate steps should be taken to refine these camps, making them safe, livable, beautiful and homely. The first course of action that all of us at home can do is to stop kidding ourselves and the rest of the world that the word ‘temporary’ has valid meaning in this regard.
Written By: Scarlett Aylsworth, Refuge Press Intern, Summer 2019
About the IIHA:
The Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs (IIHA) prepares current and future aid workers with the knowledge and skills needed to respond effectively in times of humanitarian crisis and disaster. Our courses are borne of an interdisciplinary curriculum that combines academic theory with the practical experience of seasoned humanitarian professionals. The IIHA also publishes on a wide range of humanitarian topics and regularly hosts a number of events in the New York area, including the annual Humanitarian Blockchain Summit and Design for Humanity Summit.
For media inquiries, please contact: Camille Giacovas, Communications & Research Officer, IIHA cgiacovas@fordham.edu
