The EU's Regional Refugees Approach

Abstract

The European Union has drawn on its migration policy in the Middle East and North Africa as a method of region-building that takes resilience as its “Governing Principle” when responding to crises. The central theme of resilience is to keep refugees closer to their home instead of flowing into Europe. This approach might be promising, yet it has both positive and negative effects. In the absence of adequate resources, resilience building may exacerbate the economic, political and social vulnerabilities already existing in these countries. In addition, resilience does not seem to put an end to the refugees’ suffering which, in turn, leads to increasing demands for better services, which could ultimately lead to violent riots that endanger the security of these states. Hence, resilience may seem to jeopardise rather than safeguard the security of these hosts. However, considering the case of displacement from Syria, the article focuses on the EU’s approach to refugees in its neighbourhood, and attempts an in-depth analysis of the EU’s refugee cooperation with Jordan, one of the key regional hosts, to argue that while resilience might be an approach with opposing effects, the EU and Jordan are working to make it a promising one. Their focus is to maintain a balance between the interests of refugees and of local communities. More importantly, the role of resilience in preserving Jordan’s economic and social stability and its social cohesion makes it a more promising approach than simply providing humanitarian assistance.