SRINAGAR, India, Dec 16 (IPS) – The global refugee system is entering a period of great tension. The delivery of protection and aid is undergoing a transformation due to budget cuts, institutional reforms and shifting donor priorities. Against this background a new one Global synthesis report titled From the Ground Up highlights the many issues faced by refugees in the Middle East and Africa.
Regional perspectives on advancing the Global Compact on Refugees have emphasized a rare refugee-focused assessment of what works, what fails, and what needs to change. The report is based on regional roundtables held in East Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, followed by a global consultation in Genevaas input for the progress evaluation of the Global Refugee Forum 2025
According to the report, refugee-led and community-based organizations are taking on increasing responsibilities but are receiving no power, funding or legal recognition. As international agencies scale back under what are being called the Humanitarian Reset and UN80 reforms, refugees are expected to fill ever-widening gaps without the authority or resources needed to do so safely and sustainably.
The East Africa roundtables, held in Kampala with the participation of refugee organizations from Uganda, Kenya and Ethiopia, highlight a region often praised for its progressive refugee policies. Countries here are home to millions displaced by conflict, hunger and climate stress South Sudan, Sudan, Somalia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Laws and regional frameworks promise freedom of movement, inclusion in national systems and meaningful participation. However, lived reality remains uneven.
Education emerged as a central concern. Refugee children are more likely to enroll in schools, especially where they are integrated into government-supported systems. Yet access remains uneven. Refugee students have difficulty getting their prior qualifications recognized.
Many are treated as international students at universities and pay higher tuition fees. Refugee teachers, often qualified and experienced, receive lower wages than national teachers or are excluded from formal recognition. Language barriers and a lack of psychosocial support further undermine learning outcomes. Refugee-led groups are already intervening with mentoring, counseling and scholarships, but they are doing so with fragile funding and limited reach.
Documentation and freedom of movement are another critical fault line. Uganda is widely praised for its rapid issuance of IDs for refugees and settlement-based approach. Kenya and Ethiopia have made progress through new refugee laws and policy reforms. Yet a gap remains between policy and practice. Refugees in urban areas remain undocumented in large numbers. Identity documents often have a short period of validity, making repeated renewals necessary.
Travel documents are difficult to obtain, especially in Ethiopia, limiting cross-border movement, livelihoods, and participation in regional or global policy forums. Without documentation, refugees face arrest, harassment and exclusion from services. For refugee organizations, the lack of legal registration means that they have to operate in constant uncertainty.
Access to justice, which the report describes as one of the least discussed yet most crucial issues, transcends all others. Refugees cannot claim rights or seek redress without properly functioning legal processes. Language barriers in courts, xenophobic profiling and lack of legal aid are still common.
Refugee-led organizations already provide mediation, legal support and legal aid, often acting as the first point of contact between communities and authorities. Yet their work is rarely formalized or funded on a large scale.
These findings came to life during a webinar at the launch of the report, where refugee leaders from different regions spoke directly about their experiences. A participant from East Africa reflected on repeated involvement in international forums. This event was his third such trial, following meetings in Uganda and Gambia. He noted that participation was no longer symbolic. Governments and institutions started to listen better.
He pointed out concrete differences between countries. In Kenya, refugees do not require exit visas. They do that in Ethiopia. Sharing such comparisons, he argued, helps governments reconsider restrictive practices and adapt lessons from neighboring countries.
From the Middle East and North Africa, the discussion shifted to documentation and access to justice. A Jordan-based lawyer explained that civil documentation is not just paperwork. It is the basis of rights and responsibility. Without birth registration, children have no access to education.
Without legally recognized marriages, women and children remain unprotected. Many Syrian refugees arrived in Jordan without documents, either because they had lost them during the flight or because they lacked legal knowledge. Over time, Jordan introduced measures such as fee waivers, legal aid, and even Sharia courts in camps like Zaatari to facilitate birth and marriage registration. Civil society groups have provided thousands of consultations and legal representations, bridging the gap between refugees and state systems.
The webinar also highlighted language as a structural barrier. In Jordan, Arabic serves as a common language for Syrians, facilitating communication. In East Africa, linguistic diversity makes access to justice and services difficult. Uganda hosts South Sudanese, Sudanese and Congolese refugees, each speaking different languages, while official processes are conducted in English and Kiswahili. Governments have made efforts to provide interpretation, but gaps remain, especially in interactions between courts and police.
In Ethiopia, where Amharic dominates official institutions, refugee organizations often rely on founders or leaders who are fluent in the language, limiting broader participation.
As the conversation turned to the future of the humanitarian system, the tone became more urgent. Participants recognized that budget cuts have already halted programs and exposed vulnerabilities. One speaker emphasized that legal aid and documentation cannot be seen as optional sectors.
Without sustained support, entire security systems risk collapsing. Empowerment, he argued, goes beyond providing lawyers. It means building the confidence and capacity of refugees to navigate legal systems on their own.
Another participant addressed donors and UN agencies directly. Localization, he said, will fail if refugee organizations are treated only as implementers of pre-designed projects. Power must shift alongside responsibility.
Refugee organizations should help design programs, raise resources, and make decisions based on community priorities. Otherwise, localization becomes an additional layer of outsourcing rather than an actual transfer of authority.
The speaker’s final intervention clearly highlighted the stakes. With funding dwindling and uncertainty increasing, refugees may soon have no choice but to rely on themselves. According to the speaker, investing in refugee-led organizations is not a luxury. This represents the last hope for refugees on the ground.
The MENA roundtables reflect many of these concerns, but in a more restrictive political context. Public space is more cramped. Legal recognition for refugee organizations is often impossible or risky. In Jordan, refugee organizations cannot legally register. In Egypt, civil society laws limit advocacy.
In Türkiye, registration is technically possible, but bureaucratically daunting. Despite this, refugee-led initiatives have proliferated, filling gaps in education, protection and livelihoods as international actors withdraw.
The report warns of a dangerous paradox. Localization progresses by necessity, not by design. International agencies are pulling out. Local actors intervene. Yet financing, decision-making and protection remain centralized. Refugee organizations absorb risks without safeguards. Participation is often tokenistic. Refugees attend meetings, but have no real influence.
IPS UN office report
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