Rethinking Coloniality Through the Lens of Refugee Norms and Histories: The Role of the Arab Middle East

A vibrant literature on decentring and decolonising our understanding of migration governance in the Euro–Mediterranean space has recently taken centre stage. Even so, little emphasis has been placed on how host governments and communities have impacted on the global refugee regime, defined as the set of norms and institutions governing refugee flight, rights and protection needs. Against this backdrop, scholars have increasingly sought to flip the narrative – highlighting how refugee norms and practices also travel from the southern to the northern Mediterranean as well as the other way round. This contribution seeks to
de-centre and then re-centre the debate on migration governance by shifting the gaze onto how states and societies in the Middle East contribute on the ground to diffusing refugee norms and practices. Drawing on the critical juncture provided by the recent Syrian displacement, it takes stock of how such norms and practices have affected the ways in which we understand the governance of displacement in the Mediterranean. To that end, the contribution approaches the Arab hosting state as a shaper of norms rather than a “refugee hosting vessel”. Secondly,
it considers the landscape of humanitarianism in the Middle East as a site of inquiry for unmaking coloniality and, thirdly, considers refugees as protagonists of their own plight rather than mere passive beneficiaries. These three levels of analysis can be entry points to decolonise the debate on migration governance. The challenge, however, is how to give greater weight to the policy impact of these considerations than has been afforded hitherto.