Internationalism and Solidarity

Throughout history, assistance for people affected by conflict and displacement has been provided by state and non-state groups across the global South.

At times, state-led responses to displacement have been justified through reference to what is known as ‘South-South Cooperation’: processes through which states from the global South work together to complement one another’s abilities and resources, based on principles including ‘solidarity,’ ‘reciprocity’ and ‘mutual respect’. South-South cooperation is often seen as a way of enabling Southern actors to break down barriers and structural inequalities created by colonial powers, and is also often presented as providing an alternative mode of response to that implemented by powerful Northern states and Northern-led organisations.

With most refugees around the world remaining in the global South – typically in countries neighbouring their countries of origin – Southern states such as Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq, have hosted millions of refugees for many years, often decades.

However, in addition to being ‘host states’, states from the global South also have a long history of supporting refugees in many other ways.

For instance, the countries of the Gulf have a long history of providing financial donations and material aid to refugees and people affected by tsunamis, earthquakes around the world, including through state-led faith based humanitarianism.

In turn, countries including Cuba, Venezuela and Brazil have funded and delivered medical assistance for refugees and people affected by disasters through sending internationalist medical brigades to refugee camps in North Africa, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa and to internally displaced people across the Caribbean.

And countries as diverse as Cuba, Libya and Malaysia have developed international scholarship programmes and schools to provide secondary and university-level educations from refugees from across the Middle East and North Africa. As these and other case studies following the 2011 Arab Spring demonstrate, states from the South are more than either ‘donor states’ or ‘host states’: they often provide other kinds of assistance, with different motivations.

Baddawi Dec2016- Jan2017 141 (2) — Education is highly valued in refugee situations, as seen in this mural, painted on the walls of a school in Baddawi camp, N. Lebanon. (c) E. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, 2017.

‘Solidarity based’ humanitarianism, as seen in Southern responses to forced displacement from Syria since 2011, has been demonstrated to stem, partly, from a will to enhance and strengthen the bond of unity and solidarity amongst Muslim peoples and states, including those states which belong to the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

Beit Atfaal Assamud and Syrian coffee vendor.Baddawi Camp Dec 2016 — A Syrian coffee vendor drives to Baddawi Camp, with a sign (Top Left) indicating the location of Beit Atfal Assumoud’s Community Centre (built in 1991 with support from the Malaysian Sociological Research Centre and the Malaysian Government). (c) E. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh. Dec 2016

Flags — Funded by the Malaysian Sociological Research Centre and the Malaysian Government, the entrance to Beit Atfal Assumoud’s Baddawi camp Community Centre has the Lebanese and Palestinian flags on its gates. The Centre provides support to Palestinians from Lebanon, Palestinians from Syria, and Syrian refugees (c) E. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, 2018.

However, solidarity based humanitarianism is not limited to faith-based expressions of solidarity. For example, the Brazilian President Rousseff, explained that Brazil’s response to the 2010 Haitian earthquake was a cooperative effort to support ‘brother and sister countries’ (Rousseff 2011).

And, indeed, it is not only states that act ‘in solidarity’ with refugees – local communities and members of civil society have also often explained that they offer protection and assistance to refugees out of solidarity, whether based on principles of faith or a commitment to promoting social justice. These include Tunisian civil society support for refugees displaced by the 2011 conflict in Libya, Lebanese community responses to refugees from Syria (including ‘The Wall of Kindness’ in the image below), and the assistance provided by established Palestinian refugees in Lebanon to ‘newly’ displaced people from Syria.

The Wall of Kindness, Hamra, Beirut, Lebanon — The Wall of Kindness in Beirut’s Hamra neighbourhood, where people anonymously leave items of clothing for anyone who might need them. (c) L. Harsch, 2018

Your Health mural Baddawi — A mural on the wall of an UNRWA health centre, Baddawi camp, N. Lebanon; the camp is home to established Palestinians and to people displaced from Syria since 2011 (c) E. Fiddain-Qasmiyeh, 2018

From these examples it is possible to demonstrate that ‘solidarity based’ humanitarianism operates on a number of levels, ranging from state-led initiatives to civil society and refugee-refugee action and support.

The Southern Responses to Displacement project aims to examine these and other forms of response by states and civil society which are guided by principles such as ‘solidarity’ and ‘reciprocity’. In particular, it aims to examine how refugees from Syria themselves conceptualise of these forms of response: Do they refer to them as “humanitarian” responses, or political or religious imperatives? Do they consider them to be ‘alternatives’ to the assistance programmes funded and delivered by Northern states and NGOs?