Mixed Migration - A Humanitarian Counterpoint

The concept of mixed migration has its origins in the efforts in the 1990s to draw a clearer line between refugees and asylum-seekers who are protected by International Refugee Law, and migrants who are not. As the interest in the concept is widening, it takes on broader connotations, with the risk of confusion between security, economic, political considerations, and humanitarian concerns. Governments focus normally on frameworks and procedures to disaggregate and manage mixed migration. Humanitarian action, however, must address human needs beyond such considerations, and therefore must seek agreement with public authorities on its role, which is different and based on the a priori of humanitarian principles. Yet, humanitarian organizations themselves have at times the tendency to categorise migrants along considerations of status rather than needs. Moreover, besides their humanitarian mission, they often have a technical mandate or agenda, which increases the risks of confusion about the basis of their action. Therefore, humanitarian organizations may need to explicitly agree on a common platform, in the form of an agreed principles document on the humanitarian response to mixed migration. This will ensure both clearer orientations for themselves and a firmer acreage of their action in a public policy context.