Chairman of Andan calls for creation of "Refugee Cities"
‘Refugee Cities’ Proposed as Sustainable Solution to Global Displacement Crisis
Athens, 16 October 2019
With the global displacement crisis becoming increasingly severe, innovative and long-term solutions need to be considered and implemented, says Dr. Christian H. Kaelin, Founder and Chairman of the Andan Foundation. Speaking at the Economist’s Sustainability Summit in Athens, which brings together policymakers, heads of states, thought leaders, and industry experts to discuss the most pressing sustainability challenges facing the world today, Dr. Kaelin said that current strategies for handling the displacement crisis are both inadequate and disempowering, and proposed the concept of the ‘refugee city’ as a solution.
The core idea of a refugee city is a simple one, said Dr. Kaelin: “To expand opportunities for displaced people by creating secure, self-governing communities in which they can settle and build a future. They can engage in work, start businesses, gain independence, and rebuild their lives.” Pointing out that the average duration of a refugee’s stay in a camp is now 17 years, he observed that such conditions create a sense of hopelessness among the world’s population of forcibly displaced individuals, which now numbers over 70 million people. With countries around the world beginning to feel the effects of climate change, even the most optimistic view of the future suggests that in the years ahead, more and more people will be forced to migrate in order to survive.
Instead of a humanitarian response that focuses on maintaining refugees as ‘objects of care,’ said Dr. Kaelin, it was incumbent upon the international community to look for solutions that would allow displaced people to actively contribute to their host communities, enabling them and their families to start afresh. As head of the Swiss-based Andan Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to developing solutions that promote refugees’ self-reliance, boost their resilience, and foster their inclusion in their new countries, Dr. Kaelin said that he was dedicated to changing the narrative around refugees and urged new forms of collaboration that would transform the global displacement crisis into a sustainable development opportunity.
Concluding his address, the Andan Foundation Chairman explained, “Refugee cities go beyond the concept of charter cities or special economic zones. In a public–private partnership, these special jurisdictions can attract the necessary investment to replace camps with thriving communities that benefit their host countries. With the right support, there is no reason that refugee cities that are granted extensive self-governance status would not thrive. They can become a replicable model for the future that equally benefit the people settling there as well as the countries enabling them.”
