After building the conceptual, analytical and methodological foundation of TRAFIG in the first year of the project, the TRAFIG team empirically studied conditions and constellations of protracted displacement in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, Tanzania, Jordan, Pakistan, Greece, Italy, and Germany, complemented by smaller case studies in Lebanon, Iran and the Netherlands. We conducted qualitative interviews, a quantitative survey, focus group and stakeholder discussions with more than 3,120 people; ethnographic methods complemented our study.
The project used the concept of ‘translocal figurations of displacement’, which focusses on social constellations in which protractedly displaced people are embedded, and how they evolve over time and across interlinked territories (working paper 1). Our empirical findings are outlined in seven country-specific reports (working papers 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10) and the TRAFIG synthesis report (D7.1). Over 30 peer-reviewed articles, including nine in a special issue in the Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, and book chapters introduce and lay out our work to diverse academic audiences. In turn, the TRAFIG policy handbook, seven policy briefs, 12 practice notes, an online ‘toolkit for practitioners’ and a special section in the Forced Migration Review present our results to policymakers and practitioners. All our publications are available on the TRAFIG website and the public repository ZENODO.
Our research shows that protracted displacement is a product of states’ ignorance, if not a deliberate consequence of policy choices. Ending protracted displacement is therefore possible if states show the political will to jointly tackle all aspects of displaced people’s precarity and marginalisation. We found that refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) largely find protection, shelter, livelihood support, a sense of belonging and opportunities to migrate elsewhere through their social networks. These networks often stretch across localities or even countries, which makes mobility a necessity. Understanding the local, translocal and transnational ties of displaced people upon which they rely for their well-being is the foundation for solving the problem of protracted displacement. Further key takeaways are summarized in the TRAFIG policy handbook and on the TRAFIG poster.
