In the latest episode of Power Shift, Hafsar Tameesuddin, a stateless Rohingya refugee and LGBTQ+ rights activist, and Raouf Mazou, one of the UN refugee agency’s highest-ranking officials, navigate the complex dynamics of global refugee protection, the righteous anger of refugees and stateless people, and the challenges of supporting the more than 122 million people around the world forced to leave their homes.
Tameesuddin, who had never held citizenship in any country at the time of recording, exposes the brutal costs of advocacy work for people with lived experiences of displacement and statelessness.
“My citizenship application, after now five years being in New Zealand, was declined, because I travel outside of the country so much to do this humanitarian work," Tameesuddin explains. “People like myself should be empowered and rewarded for the important work that we do. But on the contrary, we are being punished.”
Mazou, a nearly 35-year veteran of the UN’s refugee agency, UNHCR, traces the sector’s evolution from providing emergency relief to supporting self-reliance, but admits that more effort and collaboration are needed.
“The objective is no longer to just provide humanitarian assistance,” Raouf argues, “and I would be very pleased to hear from Hafsar what they think… could be implemented to achieve that goal.”
Although their conversations took place before USAID’s dismantlement sent the humanitarian sector into a tailspin, both Mazou’s and Tameesuddin’s proposals for a better refugee response strike right at the heart of the international aid system’s current limitations, calling for more equitable cooperation between global and grassroots organisations, more support for refugee self-reliance, and, consequently, for less reliance on a sector facing major cuts.
“I'm a believer of collective leadership,” Tameesuddin reflects. “In a lot of ways, I feel there is goodwill from UNHCR, from the communities, and all of us. We all want to do good things and want to accomplish something great... what is missing, from my observation, is that human interaction and relationship, and really building relationships with the grassroots.”
Guests
Hafsar Tameesuddin: Co-Secretary General of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN); Rohingya activist and refugee
Raouf Mazou: Assistant High Commissioner for Operations at UNHCR
Lina Srivastava, founder of The Center for Transformational Change and Power Shift moderator
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