Cit(y)zenship hiatus The (inevitable?) aporia between spaces of protection and citizenship rights in refugee camps in protracted situations

Abstract

From Zambia to Pakistan, via Jordan, refugee camps vary in shape, density and (im)permanence. The refugee camp as a spatialization1 of protection, constitutes a complex and multidimensional reality of deprivation of rights that goes beyond the political and humanitarian dimension, to extend to socio-spatial reflexes2. In fact, the camp represents the aporia of the still current refugee protection regime, where the camp is a medium to reach one of the three permanent solutions linked to the 1951 Geneva Convention and its protocol that, despite being exhausted, are the guarantor of the refugee regime, and in turn feed the creation of more camps. We realize that the camps in protracted situations continue to be linked to the paradigm of exception of the humanitarian space, but that their permanence (con)figures an urban by affinity³. A latent polis, which due to the political hiatus cannot be consummated. We argue, according to our experience with humanitarian organizations in the field (2016-2018), that this model is increasingly misaligned with the reality of the 21st century, leading to aporias, dilemmas and chronic dependencies, requiring a new reading and support.