TRAFIG -Transnational Figurations of Displacement

TRAFIG -Transnational Figurations of Displacement

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TRAFIG - Transnational Figurations of Displacement, is an EU-funded Horizon 2020 research and innovation project. From 2019 to 2022, 12 partner organisations will investigate long-lasting displacement situations at multiple sites in Asia, Africa and Europe and analyse options to improve displaced people’s lives.

Displacement is normally regarded as a temporary phenomenon. Yet, about 16 million people— more than two thirds of 20.4 million refugees worldwide—have been in exile for long periods of time without prospects of return, resettlement or local integration. The number of internally displaced persons who cannot return is unknown. Both groups find themselves in protracted displacement.

The project aims at generating new knowledge to help develop solutions for protracted displacement that are tailored to the needs and capacities of persons affected by displacement. TRAFIG looks at how transnational and local networks as well as mobility are used as resources by displaced people to manage their everyday lives.

TRAFIG will:

  • provide academic evidence on refugee movements and protracted displacement
  • analyse which conditions could help to improve displaced people’s everyday lives
  • inform policymakers on how to develop solutions to protracted displacement.

Project Website: https://trafig.eu

Twitter: ‎@TRAFIG_EU

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant No 822453.

TRAFIG, Transnational Figurations of Displacement,

is an EU-funded Horizon 2020 research and innovation project. From 2019 to 2022, 12 partner organisations will investigate long-lasting displacement situations at multiple sites in Asia, Africa and Europe and analyse options to improve displaced people’s lives.

Displacement is normally regarded as a temporary phenomenon. Yet, about 16 million people— more than two thirds of 20.4 million refugees worldwide—have been in exile for long periods of time without prospects of return, resettlement or local integration. The number of internally displaced persons who cannot return is unknown. Both groups find themselves in protracted displacement.

 

Objectives

The overall objective of the project is to develop solutions for protracted displacement situations (PDS) that are better tailored to the needs and capacities of persons affected by displacement. Current policies struggle to find solutions to forced displacement. 

Refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) are often stuck in ‘limbo’, i.e. living in situations of vulnerability, dependency and immobility, due to continuous cycles of displacement and a lack of durable options. The project will therefore aim at answering the questions whether and how PDS, dependency and vulnerability are related to the factors of connectivity and mobility. It will further look at how in turn, connectivity and mobility can be operationalized to enhance the self-reliance and resilience of displaced people.

 

Activities

We undertake comparative research in Africa, Asia and Europe

TRAFIG carries out trans-disciplinary, applied research to advise policymakers and to contribute to public debates. We apply both qualitative and quantitative research methods in camps and cities in Africa (Ethiopia, DR Congo, Tanzania), the Middle East (Jordan, Pakistan) and Europe (Greece, Italy, Germany).

We apply an innovative concept

TRAFIG introduces a novel research perspective—the figurational approach. On this basis, we investigate displaced people’s lives and dependencies, local relations between refugees and hosts and transnational network connections. We consider connectivity and mobility as resources that enhance the resilience of displaced people.

We support policymakers and practitioners to help the most vulnerable groups

TRAFIG reviews policies and legal instruments in recipient countries and on the European and global level. We develop a ‘Toolkit for Practitioners’ with which the needs of displaced people can be assessed and the risk of protractedness be measured. We provide knowledge that helps to design solutions that are tailored to displaced people’s own capacities.

We seek to give a voice to and empower those affected by displacement

TRAFIG aims to empower displaced people through a participatory research approach and by allowing them to tell their story in interviews and videos, through a photo exhibition, and by bringing these voices to the attention of policymakers, in media and the public.

 

Central Hypothesis

TRAFIG is grounded on the concept of ‘transnational figurations’, which stresses the networks and interdependencies of displaced people at distinct places, but in particular across borders of nation-states.Our central hypothesis is that the more connected and mobile refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) are, the less likely it is that they end up in a situation of protracted displacement (PDS) and vice versa. Our research thus focuses on the local and transnational connectivity and mobility of people. This includes both displaced people as well as host communities.

 

Partners

The TRAFIG consortium is composed of 12 partners selected for their expertise, research and implementation capacity, geographic location and access to research sites across our focus regions. The following institutions implement the TRAFIG project with BICC as coordinator: