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Practice versus perception: A discussion of the humanitarian principle of independence in the context of migration

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 March 2024

Nicole Hoagland  and
Magdalena Arias Cubas
Nicole Hoagland
Affiliation:
Senior Adviser, Red Cross Red Crescent Global Migration Lab, hosted by Australian Red Cross, Sydney, Australia
Magdalena Arias Cubas*
Affiliation:
Research Lead, Red Cross Red Crescent Global Migration Lab, hosted by Australian Red Cross, Sydney, Australia
*
*Corresponding author email: mariascubas@redcross.org.au
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Abstract

The principle of independence is central to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement's work with and for migrants. Independence requires humanitarian actors to retain their autonomy and resist any interference that might divert them from acting according to the principles of humanity, impartiality and neutrality. Yet, in the face of increasing securitization of migration and instrumentalization of aid and migrants, independence – in practice and perception – cannot be assumed. Drawing from current debates and primary research by the Red Cross Red Crescent Global Migration Lab, this article examines existing challenges in upholding independence in migration contexts and outlines recommendations for action.

Keywords

migrationprincipled humanitarian actionindependenceneutralityimpartialitytrustmigrants’ lived experience
Type
Research Article
Information
International Review of the Red Cross , First View , pp. 1 - 19
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of ICRC

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Footnotes

The advice, opinions and statements contained in this article are those of the author/s and do not necessarily reflect the views of the ICRC. The ICRC does not necessarily represent or endorse the accuracy or reliability of any advice, opinion, statement or other information provided in this article.

References

1 The Movement is made up of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and 191 National Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (National Societies).

2 The seven Fundamental Principles are set out in the preamble to the Statutes of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, adopted by the 25th International Conference of the Red Cross, Geneva, October 1986 (amended 1995 and 2006), available at: www.icrc.org/en/doc/assets/files/other/statutes-en-a5.pdf (all internet references were accessed in February 2024).

3 This definition includes, among others, labour migrants, stateless migrants, migrants with an irregular status, refugees and asylum-seekers. See IFRC, Policy on Migration, November 2009, available at: www.ifrc.org/sites/default/files/Migration-Policy_EN.pdf.

4 Ibid., p. 3.

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33 In the past decade, as migration management has climbed to the top of policy-makers’ agendas in North America and Europe, official development assistance has increasingly been shaped by the goal of curbing migrant arrivals at their borders. See Ariel G. Ruiz Soto and Camille Le Coz, “Reshaping the Root Cause Approach: Disentangling Official Development Assistance and Migration Management”, Mixed Migration Centre, 6 December 2022, available at: https://mixedmigration.org/articles/reshaping-the-root-cause-approach/.

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36 S. Le Bihan, above note 6, p. 3.

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38 Securitization can be described as “the repositioning of areas of regular politics into the realm of security by increasingly using narratives of threat and danger aimed at justifying the adoption of extraordinary measures”: Chris Horwood and Bram Frouws (eds), Mixed Migration Review 2019: Highlights, Interviews, Essays, Data, Mixed Migration Centre, Geneva, 2019, p. 186. See also Jaskulowski, Krzysztof, “The Securitisation of Migration: Its Limits and Consequences”, International Political Science Review, Vol. 40, No. 5, 2019CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

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44 Council of Delegates, above note 5, p. 3.

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57 A detailed methodology, including a discussion on key limitations of the data, is available in M. Arias Cubas, N. Hoagland and S. Mudaliar, above note 8, p. 4.

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62 G. Broussard et al., above note 53, p. 11. There is also related action in migration by Médecins Sans Frontières: see Médecins Sans Frontières, “Financial Independence and Accountability”, available at: www.msf.org/reports-and-finances.

63 IFRC, above note 3, p. 3.

64 Dragana Kaurin, Data Protection and Digital Agency for Refugees, World Refugee Council Research Paper No. 12, Centre for International Governance Innovation, Waterloo, May 2019.

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66 Hanna Rioseco, The Promise and Peril of Biometrics in Delivering Humanitarian Aid, Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism Working Paper Series, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2020, available at: www.mcgill.ca/humanrights/files/humanrights/rioseco_ihrip_v9_2021.pdf.

67 C. Quijano Carrasco, above note 22, p. 6.

68 IFRC, Humanitarian Diplomacy Policy, July 2017, available at: www.ifrc.org/sites/default/files/Humanitarian-Diplomacy-Policy_EN.pdf.

69 E. Schenkenberg van Mierop, above note 61, p. 15.

70 M. Arias Cubas, N. Hoagland and S. Mudaliar, above note 8, p. 4.

71 Magdalena Arias Cubas, Nicole Hoagland and Sanushka Mudaliar, “Migrants in Need Report Barriers to Assistance and Fragile Trust in Humanitarian Organizations”, Migration Information Source, 2 February 2023, available at: www.migrationpolicy.org/article/migrants-needs-trust-humanitarian-organizations.