New Research Report – Transregional Responses to Displacement: Aid, Advocacy and Accountability

While extensive attention has been given to regional responders in contexts of displacement, especially the member states of the Gulf Cooperation Council, there has been much less attention to responses developed and implemented on a transregional level. This Research Report (published in English and Arabic) draws on the Southern Responses to Displacement research project to posit the importance of paying greater attention to past, present and future transregional responses to conflict and displacement as developed by states and organisations with varying degrees of income and of relative geopolitical power. To do so, the Research Report focuses on responses developed to date by state and non-state actors from (in alphabetical order) Brazil, Cuba, Indonesia, Japan, South Africa, South Korea and Malaysia, noting that these initiatives reflect long histories of transregional support which include, but also transcend, financial or material donations.

As explored in the Research Report, such responses encompass long-standing initiatives based on principles and practices of cooperation, solidarity and mutual aid; a commitment to protecting international legal principles and processes; and providing both formal and informal opportunities for resettlement as well as transnational educational and employment programmes for people with displacement backgrounds to seek a combination of individual, collective and national forms of self-sufficiency. While focusing primarily on responses to displacement from Syria as implemented in Lebanon, Jordan and Türkiye, this discussion is situated in the context of broader historical and contemporary responses to conflict and displacement situations across the Middle East, including in relation to the ongoing genocide in Gaza.

As Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh argues in the Report:

“this work is particularly urgent at a time when states across the global North have been cutting foreign and humanitarian aid, as well as attacking and seeking to dismantle both national and UN humanitarian and development agencies, thereby forcing humanitarian actors to rethink how aid is delivered and by whom. In such a context, it is particularly important to consider the history, present and potential future of thus-far under-researched transregional initiatives. In this sense, the diversification of ‘responders’ not only already exists, but also points to the potential for complementary forms of response which go beyond funding the provision of assistance and services, and more intently focus on the protection needs of people affected by displacement.“

Read the Research Report in English here and in Arabic here.

Suggested citation: Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E. (2025) Transregional Responses to Displacement: Aid, Advocacy and Accountability. Research Report Summary (SOURCED project and Migration Research Unit, UCL).