Karen Jacobsen Talks Migration in Cities

Fletcher Professor Karen Jacobsen has spent decades studying migration and displacement around the world. Her new book Host Cities, published by Yale University Press, explores how urban areas respond to large arrivals of displaced people. She recently sat down with Carlos Alvarado Quesada, former president of Costa Rica and senior fellow at Fletcher's Henry J. Leir Institute for Migration and Human Security, to discuss her research and what it means for cities around the world. Watch their conversation and read a lightly edited transcript below.

Carlos Alvarado Quesada: Why did you write this book now? And what is this transformation you're seeing in urban settings?

Karen Jacobsen: When I started working on migration issues 30 years ago, most displaced people went to refugee camps. But in recent years, many more people who are forcibly displaced come to cities. This includes refugees who cross international borders and internally displaced people who come from other parts of their own country. It includes people displaced by conflict and by natural disasters. 

I’ve spent 20 years researching what happens to refugees in cities. But I realized five years ago that not much research has been done on what happens to the cities and citizens themselves when a large humanitarian influx occurs, and how national and city leaders respond.

The book looks at two different kinds of cities, using two examples. One is a megalopolis and capital, Cairo, Egypt. The other is a smaller city near a border, Tripoli, in Lebanon, which, beginning in 2012 received hundreds of thousands of refugees from the Syrian Civil War.

The book explores many ways in which cities are affected by refugees. I look at the impact on social cohesion, on housing markets and employment markets, on environmental impact. I have a chapter on what happens to garbage disposal, waste, and sanitation systems when many refugees arrive suddenly.

You focus on cities in Africa and the Middle East. Are there lessons for other parts of the world?

In the book, I suggest that what's happening in African and Middle Eastern cities is not so very different from what happens in other cities. For example, I explore how refugees move to certain areas of cities --  there are large concentrations of refugees and migrants in particular parts of the city, which are most directly affected by migration, but which also create ripple effects in other parts of the city. Pressure on services such as healthcare or education affect the entire city. We’ve witnessed this here in the United States, in cities like Boston and New York.

I argue in the book that the best way to help cities is to help people in high-concentration neighborhoods help refugees. This lesson applies everywhere, even in rural areas. It's important for cities to find ways to support local communities and populations, rather than only focusing on the refugees and migrants themselves.

We've seen a recent shift in the framework of humanitarian aid. What does this mean for cities?

Host countries and their cities can no longer depend on foreign humanitarian assistance to support refugees. Host cities will have to rely on their own resources and abilities to support the migrants that come to them – and they are able to do this.

We will see more urban migration, as there is no shortage of conflicts and persecution. For example, the intense and horrific conflict in Sudan has led to millions of refugees fleeing to Egypt, Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Chad, and even more people internally displaced. These countries won’t receive much assistance from international resources. It will be up to them and their cities. 

We’re accustomed to seeing negative headlines around migration. Does your research offer some hopeful or constructive insights?

People often ask me how I can work in a field with terrible tragedies. It’s certainly the case that many refugees have awful experiences both at home and on their journeys. When they come to cities, many people need help.

Who provides that help? Some are lucky to get humanitarian assistance, but it’s mostly their neighbors who help them. I find it very inspiring to recognize that even poor people in poor neighborhoods are willing to help those in desperate straits. 

Refugees receive help from people beyond their own cultures and communities. Here in the United States, for example, we see Americans across the country stepping forward to help migrants, whether in small towns, large cities, poor neighborhoods, or tiny villages. To me, this has been a source of great hope. 

What’s one thing that surprised you while writing this book?

I expected dramatic impacts or massive pressures from refugees on, for example, public services. But I found that in many cities, those problems were there before. Refugees may amplify or aggravate existing challenges, but they're usually not causing them.

Refugees can sometimes bring resources that actually help. When refugees come, so does the humanitarian industry, which supports cities because they're trying to support refugees. Rather than causing problems, refugees are bringing more attention to them.

Learn more about Host Cities from Yale University Press