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Title: Innovations in Solutions

Innovations in Solutions

Building on 100 years of Efforts – The Global Compact on Refugees

by Luise Drüke (Author)
©2026 Monographs 812 Pages
History & Political Science
Open Access

Summary

Building on over a century of international efforts in refugee protection, this monograph traces key developments from the early twentieth century to the present day. It critically examines the impact of the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) of 2018 on partnerships for economic inclusion and refugees’ self-reliance, meaningful participation of refugees in decision-making processes and academia. The chronology illustrates how the GCR complements the 1951 Refugee Convention, including for more predictable frameworks of responsibility-sharing, with a mutistakeholder and a ‘whole-of society’ approach. Combining decades of field experience and empirical research, the monograph offers a richly documented resource for students, researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, while providing practitioner insights rarely found in academic publications.
“Luise Druke’s …documentation of the impact of the Global Compact on Refugees is an eloquent answer to defeatist thinking about the ‘relevance’ of the Refugee Convention and positions this book as a vital resource going forward.”
– Professor Kate Jastram, University of California College of the Law
“To try and encapsulate the work of UNHCR over several decades and work it into a coherent whole is a monumental task. This work achieves that. What is crucial is that it is current, including the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) that is gaining increased acceptance and showing results…”
– Professor GS Gilbert, University of Essex

Table Of Contents

  • Cover
  • Title Page
  • Copyright Page
  • Contents
  • List of Figures
  • List of Tables
  • Foreword
  • Preface
  • Acknowledgments
  • List of Abbreviations
  • Reflections
  • Introduction
  • Part I Selected Milestones in International Refugee Protection: A Brief Review
  • Chapter 1 Under the League of Nations and partners (1921–46)
  • 1.1. High Commissioner for Refugees Fridtjof Nansen (1921–1930) with partners
  • 1.2. Institutions created by the LON to perform some or all of the HC’s tasks (1931–46)
  • Chapter 2 Under the United Nations (UN), the International Refugee Organization (IRO) and partners (1947–52)
  • Chapter 3 Under the UN and the leadership of UNHCR and staff in cooperation with partners (from 1950 onwards)
  • 3.1. HC Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart (March 1951– July 1956)
  • Start of setting up UNHCR in January 1951
  • Cooperation: UNHCR and the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration
  • A refugee in Greece said: Give me a key to a door
  • 3.2. HC Auguste Lindt (1956–60)
  • 3.3. HC Felix Schnyder (1960–65)
  • 3.4. HC Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan (1965–77)
  • Focal point for the Bangladesh operation
  • New approaches in Chile
  • During the time of President Idi Amin in Uganda
  • The beginning of the involvement in Indochina and Southeast Asia after 1973
  • 3.5. HC Poul Hartling (1978–1985)
  • Indochinese refugees
  • Initiatives in Africa
  • The Cartagena Declaration
  • 3.6. HC Jean-Pierre Hocké (1986–89)
  • The Namibian Repatriation Operation (United Nations Transition Assistance Group)
  • Presence in countries of origin
  • 3.7. HC Thorvald Stoltenberg (January–November 1990)
  • Monitoring of and support for reintegration of returnees in Vietnam
  • The High Commissioner approved the UNHCR Working Group on Early Warning
  • 3.8. HC Sadako Ogata (1991–2000)
  • Major repatriations for implementing peace agreements in Cambodia and Mozambique
  • 3.9. HC Ruud Lubbers (2001–February 2005)
  • 3.10. HC António Guterres (June 2005–2015)
  • 3.11. HC Filippo Grandi (January 2016–December 2025)
  • Looking back
  • Part II The Global Compact on Refugees
  • Reflections by HC Filippo Grandi
  • Chapter 4 The 2016 New York Declaration and the 2018 Global Compact on Refugees (GCR)
  • 4.1. The Global Refugee Forums (GRF) of 2019 and 2023 toward 2027
  • 4.1.1. The GCR Reports (2021, 2023, 2025) for data- driven assessments of GCR implementation
  • 4.1.2. Selected pledge implementation of GCR objectives with focus on 2023, 2024, and 2025
  • Route-based approaches
  • The First Quarterly Informal Briefing of the GCR on March 26, 2024
  • The Fourth Quarterly Preparatory Meeting for the Global Refugee Forum Progress Review, November 18, 2025, and the presentation of the 2025 GCR Global Indicator Report
  • 4.1.3. Selected Highlights of the GRF Progress Review of December 2025
  • 15 December 2025
  • 16 December 2025
  • 17 December 2025
  • Sessions at the Refugee Leadership Multipurpose Space – R-Space.
  • 4.2. Selected funding, meaningful refugee participation and academic research and training: Focus on the Global Academic Interdisciplinary Network (GAIN) and the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN)
  • 4.2.1. Funding sources and arrangements: focus on development and private sector actors
  • Financing for Development
  • International Development Association (IDA)
  • Multilateral Development Bank Coordination Platform (MDBs)
  • Private Sector Investments
  • 4.2.2. Participation of refugees at the GCR and the GRF Advisory bodies: focus on R-Seat
  • Introduction
  • 4.2.3. Participation of forcibly displaced and stateless persons in major conferences during 2019–25
  • 4.2.3.1. Preparation for the Global Refugee Fora
  • 4.2.3.2. Participation during the Global Refugee Forum 2023
  • 4.2.3.3. Participation in the GRF follow-up and lessons learned
  • 4.2.4. Participation at Policy Levels
  • 4.2.4.1. Advisory Board to the UNHCR GCR Task Team
  • 4.2.4.2. The Refugee Advisory Group to the Consultations on Resettlement and Complimentary Pathways
  • 4.2.4.3. Participation in the meetings in 2024 and 2025
  • 4.2.4.4. At the GFR Progress Review December 15–17, 2025
  • 4.2.4.5. Launching the Independent Declaration at a side event of the GRF Progress Review 2025
  • 4.2.4.6. Dialogues of refugee leaders with UNHCR candidates
  • 4.2.4.7. Funding for Refugee-led organizations
  • 4.2.5. Refugee Research and training: Focus on the Global Academic Interdisciplinary Network (GAIN) and the Local Engagement Refugee Research Network (LERRN)
  • High Level Officials Meeting, December 14–15, 2021, Written Statement from the Global Academic Interdisciplinary Network
  • Research
  • Teaching
  • Scholarships and Solidarity
  • Statement from the Co-Chairs of the Global Academic Interdisciplinary Network (GAIN) to the Plenary Session of the Global Refugee Forum Progress Review Meeting Geneva, December 15–17, 2025
  • Chapter 5 Responsibility-sharing in action: The Refugee-led Council of Refugee Women in Bulgaria (CRWB)
  • 5.1. Introduction to a notable initiative
  • 5.2. Testimony written by the President of the Council of Refugee Women in Bulgaria (specifically for this book)
  • 5.3. An example of meaningful participation and engagement of refugees themselves
  • 5.4. UNHCR Award to Linda Awanis of 2003 for her empowerment of refugee women
  • Concluding remarks
  • For background
  • Chapter 6 Selected efforts supporting the implementation of GCR goals
  • 6.1. Early warning and emergency preparedness
  • UNHCR early warning efforts: brief background
  • UNHCR’s Refugee Emergency Alert System (REAS)
  • Chronology of steps (1989–90): UNHCR’s REAS
  • 6.2. The Refugee-led Innovation Fund (RFIF) and connectivity for refugees
  • 6.2.1. UNHCR’s Innovation, its evolution, the Innovation Fund, the Global Compact on Refugees and using Artificial Intelligence (AI) in UNHCR’s operations
  • 6.2.2. The Evolution of the Innovation Fund
  • 6.2.3. Connectivity for Refugees initiative
  • NB Connectivity of Refugees in the field: Fresh from the press—reflections by the Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees, Kelly T. Clements, of November 7, 2025
  • 6.2.4. Selected accomplishments of the UNHCR Innovation Unit
  • 6.3. Kenya’s Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement experience and the Shirika Plan launched in 2025
  • Background
  • Summary on Part I
  • Part III Case Studies
  • Chapter 7 Chilean Refugees and Return: Agency, Support, and Empowerment
  • Outstanding human rights defenders in Chile during the dictatorship internationally recognized and honored
  • 7.0. Preface by Roberto Garretón Merino
  • 7.1. Introduction
  • 7.2. Brief Historical Background
  • 7.2.1. What led to the coup of September 11, 1973?
  • 7.2.2. Systematic persecution targeting foreign refugees and Chileans
  • 7.3. Historical aspects related to asylum and refugee protection
  • 7.3.1. The international refugee regime (1951 Refugee Convention ratified)
  • 7.3.2. Diplomatic asylum and the regional American regime of asylum
  • 7.3.3. National Decree Laws and the 1980 Constitution
  • 7.4. Facilitating innovative measures immediately after the coup (1973–74)
  • 7.4.1. Protecting foreign refugees (initially) in “safe havens” within the country
  • September
  • October
  • November
  • December
  • 7.4.2. Obtaining support for resettlement elsewhere
  • 7.5. Supporting refugee rights during the continuing dictatorship (1983–85)
  • FASIC (Fundación de Ayuda Social de las Iglesias Cristianas)
  • Vicaría de la Solidaridad (consultative relationship)
  • Comisión Chilena de Derechos Humanos (consultative relationship)
  • The Comité Pro-Retorno de Exiliados (consultative relationship)
  • World University Service (consultative relationship)
  • 7.5.1. Protection abroad through family reunion
  • 7.5.2. Formally ending exile for hundreds of thousands of Chileans
  • 7.5.3. The evolving political scene since 1983
  • 7.6. Reflecting on 40+ years after the coup with personal testimonies
  • 7.6.1. Testimonies of Chilean exiles in Hannover, Germany, after 1973
  • 7.6.2. The Workshop on “Exile and Individual Return under Dictatorship”: personal narratives of exiles, human- rights defenders, and inter-generational representatives collected in 2013 on the fortieth anniversary of the coup
  • Comments on the Workshop
  • 7.7. Final Remarks: Summary and Conclusions
  • Exhibits
  • 1. Photos taken between 1974 and 2024 in Germany and Chile
  • 2. Participants of the Workshop “Exile and Individual Return under Dictatorship,” Universidad Diego Portales (UDP), Santiago, Chile, January 30, 2013
  • 3. Veronica Renya, Chief Lawyer, FASIC (1975–2010)
  • 4. Outside view of Víctor Jara Stadium and Villa Grimaldi
  • 5. Decree 1308 Authorizing the Functioning of the National Commission for Aid to Refugees (CONAR) of October 3, 1973
  • 6. UNHCR Note verbale SANT 187 of March 25, 1985, requesting that Chilean exiles not in the list of persons requiring consultation have no impediment to return
  • 7. Ministry of Foreign Affairs Note verbale, No. 09176 of April 25, 1985, confirmed that Chileans not in the negative list have no impediments to enter the country
  • 8. Resettlement and Family Reunion: September 1973 through March 1985
  • 8a. Individual returns on the request of the concerned persons only1984 through March 1985 (to show the countries of exile)
  • 8b. Spontaneous indidivual returns on the request of the persons concerned from 1976 through 1994 in numbers and by continents under Dictatorship (1976-1989)
  • 8c. Organized voluntary returns under the National Office for Returns of the new Government of Chile
  • 8d. Returnees’ continents of exile
  • 9. Example of legal status of the Chileans in Hannover 1973–2002
  • 10. Geographic map of Chile
  • Chapter 8 Namibian Returnees: The 1989 UNTAG/UNHCR Repatriation Operation through Angola
  • 8.0. Preface
  • 8.1. Introduction
  • 8.2. Historical Context
  • 8.2.1. Namibia’s Road Toward Freedom
  • 8.2.2. The Crystallization of the Political Process
  • 8.3. Legal and Political Basis: The Geopolitical Environment
  • 8.3.1. Favorable International Climate in Support of Namibia
  • 8.3.2. The UN Transition Assistance Group (UNTAG) Mandate and Mission
  • 8.3.3. UNHCR’s Mission within UNTAG’s Plan, including Angola
  • 8.4. Challenges
  • 8.4.1. Singularity of the Namibian Repatriation Operation
  • 8.4.2. UN Demilitarization of Liberation Fighters
  • 8.4.3. Returnees’ Challenges in Namibia
  • 8.5. Accomplishments
  • 8.5.1. Flexibility
  • 8.5.2. Reaching Goals Despite Obstacles
  • 8.5.3. Participation of the Refugees
  • 8.6. Results, Lessons Learned, and Conclusions
  • 8.6.1. Results
  • 8.6.2. Lessons Learned
  • 8.6.3. Conclusions
  • Exhibits
  • 1. UN Security Council Resolution 435, September 29, 1978
  • 2. Chronology of the Implementation
  • 3. Time Chart, Repatriation: Operation in Angola and Zambia, 1989
  • 4. Staffing Organigram: Angola
  • 5. Namibia Repatriation, Actual Mission Staffing, August 1 –November 30, 1989
  • 6. Photos of the repatriation operation in progress, 1989
  • 7. Maps
  • 7a. UNHCR Namibia Operation in Angola
  • 7b. Namibia Repatriation Operation: Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia
  • 8. Letter from the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Thorvald Stoltenberg to the author
  • Part IV Chronology of Selected Milestones since 1921, including direct and indirect outcomes of the Global Compact on Refugees since 2018
  • Chapter 9 International Refugee Protection
  • Progress
  • Objective One: Easing pressure on host countries
  • Objective Two: Enhancing refugees’ self-reliance
  • Objective Three: Expanding access to third-country solutions
  • Objective Four: Supporting conditions in countries of origin for return in safety and dignity
  • The GCR has been demonstrating relevance in emergencies
  • Data and empirical studies inform about GCR implementation
  • International Development Association (IDA)
  • Participation of forcibly displaced and stateless persons in the Global Refugee Forum 2023
  • Chapter 10 Teaching Note
  • 10.1. Preface
  • 10.2. Introduction
  • 10.3. Synopsis
  • 10.4. Overall Learning Objectives
  • 10.5. Teaching Plan and Case Analysis
  • Introduction
  • Wrapping-up points
  • 10.6. General Assignment Questions
  • 10.7. Overview of Cases
  • The Case Studies Presented in this Book in Part II
  • Case Study One: Chile
  • Instructions
  • Concluding Remarks
  • Afterword: Funding Aspects for Humanitarian Aid and Refugee Protection
  • Epilogue: The Author’s Engagement in Refugee and Humanitarian Issues
  • Annexes
  • 1. 2024 EXCOM Conclusion No. 117 (LXXV) on durable solutions and complementary pathways
  • 2. Executive Committee Statement (of Support), 76th session of the Executive Committee, October 6–10, 2025
  • 3. Statement by the Government of Canada delivered by Ambassador Peter MacDougall with Damhat Zagros, Refugee Advisor, at the 2025 Executive Committee of UNHCR
  • 4. NGO Collective Statement prepared in consultation with organizations led by forcibly displaced and stateless persons (RLO) at the 76th session of EXCOM (October 6–10, 2025)
  • 5. Selected Key Results of the 2025 Global Compact on Refugees Indicator Report (GCR IR) of November 18, 2025
  • 6. Contributions pledged for UNHCR’s 2026 program at the Pledging Conference on December 2, 2025
  • 7. Selected Key Results of the Global Refugee Forum Progress Review, December 2025
  • 8. Independent Declaration on the Right of Persons with Experience of Forced Displacement or Statelessness to Participate in Decisions that Affect them (Without commentary) launched on December 15, 2025, in Geneva at the same time of the GRF Progress Review
  • Introduction
  • Preamble
  • Article 1 – The right to participate
  • Article 2 – Good-faith and non-discrimination
  • Article 3 – Access to information
  • Article 4 – Supporting and Resourcing Participation
  • Article 5 – The Right to a Remedy and Accountability
  • 9. Welcome to the 12th UN High Commissioner for Refugees Dr. Barham Sahil
  • 10. Congratulations to Rez Gardi on stepping into her role as the Special Assistant to the High Commissioner for Refugees
  • 11. Update on Senior Appointments, Fullfilled Pledges and Refugee Participation
  • Selected Bibliography
  • Part I, II and IV
  • UNHCR Reports/Publications
  • Part III
  • Case Studies
  • Chilean refugees and return
  • Namibian returnees
  • Postscript: Reflections on the 1951 Refugee Convention at 75
  • Symposium on the 1951 Refugee Convention at 75: Introduction

Figures

Figure 0.1: Muzna Dureid’s Briefing to the UN Security Council, February 13, 2026

Figure 0.2: Global Refugee Forum 2023: Multistakeholder Pledge on Economic Inclusion and Social Protection

Figure 0.3: 149 States are parties to the 1951 Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol

Figure 0.4: Signature of the 1951 Refugee Convention, Geneva, Switzerland

Figure 1.1: Nansen passport

Figure 1.2: Fridtjof Nansen, League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees 1921–1930

Figure 2.1: The IRO resettled 1,038,750 refugees and displaced persons by the end of its mandate in 1952

Figure 3.1: Dr. Gerrit Jan van Heuven Goedhart, 1951–1956 (The Netherlands)

Figure 3.2: Press Release Nr. REF/1, January 8, 1951, of the Information Centre, European Office of the United Nations, Geneva, announcing that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees has arrived in Geneva

Figure 3.3: Refugees and expellees (Vertriebene) seeking safety westwards in 1945

Figure 3.4: Cabinet Gerbrandy II in 1944 (from July 27, 1941 to February 23, 1945) Gerrit Van Heuven Goedhart (June 12, 1944 to February 23, 1945) is standing at the right-hand side

Figure 3.5: Certificate for expellees and refugees of October 31, 1953

Figure 3.6: Auguste Lindt, 1956–1960 (Switzerland)

Figure 3.7: Félix Schnyder, 1960–1965 (Switzerland)

Figure 3.8: Prince Sadruddin Aga Khan, 1965–1977 (France, Iran)

Figure 3.9: Poul Hartling,1978–1985 (Denmark)

Figure 3.10: Jean-Pierre Hocké, 1986–1989 (Switzerland)

Figure 3.11: Thorvald Stoltenberg, January–November 1990 (Norway)

Figure 3.12: Text on early warning

Figure 3.13: Yugoslavia, Former Federated Nation: 1929–2003

Figure 3.14: Sadako Ogata, 1991–2000 (Japan)

Figure 3.15: Voluntary repatriation of Tajik refugees from Kazakhstan to Dushanbe, November 1998

Figure 3.16: Eurasia—UNHCR website (2006 Global Appeal)

Figure 3.17: Mozambique: UN Repatriation Operation, 1993

Figure 3.18: Cambodia: UN Repatriation Operation, 1992–93

Figure 3.19: Left: UNHCR Archives as established by HC Ogata 1996 based on the Central Registry since 1951; Right: The author at the UN Library in the Palais des Nations, to where all UNHCR books were transferred, holding her doctoral thesis with a foreword by HC Hartling

Figure 3.20: Ruud Lubbers, 2001–2005 (the Netherlands)

Figure 3.21: Professor Guy Goodwin-Gill and the author

Figure 3.22: António Guterres, 2005–2015 (Portugal)

Figure 3.23: HC Guterres joining us at Regional Representatives Meeting, UNHCR Bureau for Europe, June 3, 2005, Geneva, Switzerland

Figure 3.24: Filippo Grandi, 2016–2025 (Italy)

Figure 3.25: Top left: HC Grandi carrying the Olympic Flame in Paris 2024. Courtesy © IOC/Greg Martin, accessed September 25, 2025. Top right: The largest-ever Refugee Olympic Team makes its entrance as the Paris Games open in 2024. Bottom: HC Grandi with the Olympic Laurel

Figure 3.26: HC Grandi addressing the UN Security Council on April 28, 2025

Figure 3.27: HC Grandi delivering his last report to the Third Committee, November 6, 2025

Figure 4.1: Applying the Temporary Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework in Africa (2016–18)

Figure 4.2: MIRPS: Comprehensive Regional Protection & Solutions Framework

Figure 4.3: National Action Plan: Honduras

Figure 4.4: The 2019 Global Refugee Forum was co-hosted by UNHCR and Switzerland, and co-convened by Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Germany, Pakistan, and Turkïye

Figure 4.5: List of countries by Human Development Index, 2025

Figure 4.6: Number of pledges and updates by areas of focus, October 2023

Figure 4.7: Pledges and Contribution dashboard since January 1, 2019

Figure 4.8: Scaled-up efforts are needed

Figure 4.9: A Route-Based Approach: Strengthening protection and solutions in the context of mixed movements of refugees and migrants

Figure 4.10a: Sea arrivals to Italy, Cyprus, and Malta, and sea and land arrivals to Greece and Spain (including the Canary Islands) total arrivals in 2026

Figure 4.10b: Sea arrivals to Italy, Cyprus, and Malta, and sea and land arrivals to Greece and Spain (including the Canary Islands) for 2015-2025

Figure 4.11: Arrivals: Cumulative figures for the first semester of 2024 show 76,500 persons estimated arrivals and 1,048 persons estimated dead of missing

Figure 4.12: Route-based approaches in the Southern African Development Community (SADC), a regional economic community

Figure 4.13: As of June 2024, 6,021,400 refugees from Ukraine were in Europe, end April 2024, there were 3.5 million people displaced internally within Ukraine

Figure 4.14: GRF 2023 attendance

Figure 4.15: Quarterly-informal-briefing-2024-Global Timeline to the HLOM - 2024 UNHCR Roadmap to the High-Level Officials Meeting, 2024, revisited July 2, 2026

Figure 4.16: UNHCR Roadmap toward the GRF Progress Review Meeting, 2025

Figure 4.17: Framing multi-stakeholder pledges in support of the GRF key outcomes

Figure 4.18: Key areas and specific considerations for the development of plans

Figure 4.19: Multistakeholder pledge: Economic inclusion and social protection, 2024

Figure 4.20: Multistakeholder health pledge at GFR 2023

Figure 4.21: Update on pledge implementation, December 2024

Figure 4.22: Update on pledge implementation, as of September 10, 2025

Figure 4.23: Current global stocktaking snapshot, September 16, 2025

Figure 4.24: Presentation of the 2025 Global Compact on Refugees Indicator Report

Figure 4.25: Pledge Stocktaking Report: Key Takeaways (1)

Figure 4.26: Pledge Stocktaking Report: Key Takeaways (2)

Figure 4.27: HC Grandi opened the Global Refugee Forum Progress Review on December 15, 2025

Figure 4.28: Building Bridges Across Regions, LERRN

Figure 4.29: Joint Commitments by the MDB Coordination Platform on Economic Migration and Forced Displacement

Figure 4.30: Integration of refugees into education and employment: Dismantling hurdles, shaping perspectives

Figure 4.31: Regional distribution of refugees participating in the 2018 Global Summit of Refugees

Figure 4.32: Comparison of GRF 2019 and GRF 2023: Meaningful Participation Pledges

Figure 4.33: GRF Pledges in support of organizations led by forcibly displaced and stateless persons

Figure 4.34: GRF Orientation Meeting for Forcibly Displaced and Stateless Participants, December 12, 2023

Figure 4.35: Aisha Khurram (Moderator) and Adhieu A. Dhieu reading the Joint Refugee Statement on December 13 at the GFR 2023

Figure 4.36: Speakers at the final plenary of the Global Refugee Forum 2023 with HC Grandi

Figure 4.37: Speakers including Refugee Advisory Board (RAB) member of Germany, Majdi Laktinah (at the right hand side on the podium), at the final plenary of the Global Refugee Forum Progress Review, December 2025, with HC Grandi

Figure 4.38: Refugee Advisory Group (RAG) at the June 2024 Consultations on Resettlement and Complementary Pathways (CRCP) that week. Mustafa Alio stands in the second row, third from the right

Figure 4.39: UNHCR Advisory Board member and Nour Jarroui, refugee from Syria, delivered the Global Refugee Statement, GRF Progress Review 2025

Figure 4.40: The Independent Declaration on the Right of Persons at the GRFPR December 15, 2025

Figure 4.41: Global Academic Interdisciplinary Network (GAIN)

Figure 4.42: Webinar, UNHCR at 75, November 26, 2025

Figure 5.1: Preparatory founding session of the refugee-led Council of Refugee Women (CRWB) in Bulgaria initiated and headed by Linda Awanis in May 2002

Figure 5.2: The Bulgarian Council on Refugees and Migrants (BCRM), including the Council of Refugee Women in Bulgaria

Figure 5.3: Award to Linda Awanis from HC Lubbers, December 5, 2003

Figure 5.4: HC Lubbers with four of the award winners, 2003, incl. Linda Awanis

Figure 5.5: Meeting of the refugee-assisting team in Sofia, Bulgaria, in 2002

Figure 5.6: Foreword and photograph of PM Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha in Sofia, 2001

Figure 5.7: Asylum applications in Bulgaria by country of origin, 1993–2003

Figure 5.8: Trends of asylum applications in Bulgaria, 1993–2003 (12,803 persons)

Figure 5.9: UNHCR Bulgaria Fact Sheet, February 2025

Figure 5.10: Operational Update, the CRWB is part of the refugee assisting network, June 2025

Figure 6.1: Early Warning Early Action efforts drawing on risk analysis and monitoring

Figure 6.2: UNHCR Handbook for Emergencies, 1991, p. 36

Figure 6.3: Letter by the former HC Prince Sadruddin to the author on early warning, a topic we were both already passionate about for years

Figure 6.4: The evolution of innovation at UNHCR 2012–24

Figure 6.5: The four funds operate on an annual cycle, inclusive and merit-based application process

Figure 6.6: Kalobeyei Settlement in red, near to the Kakuma Refugee Camp

Figure 6.7: KISEDP II (2023–27) The Kalobeyei Integrated Socio-Economic Development Plan

Figure 6.8: Kenya: The Refugees Act, of 2021 was launched in 2025

Figure 6.9: Map of refugees and asylum-seekers in the East and Horn of Africa and the Great Lakes Region, as of August 31, 2025

Figure 6.10: Total refugees and asylum-seekers in Kenya, last updated December 31, 2025

Figure 6.11: Inauguration of Refugee Resource Centre, June 24, 2024

Figure 6.12: Auxilio Onorio and Pal Chol Thot explain their improvised voting system at Brightstar Integrated Secondary School, Kalobeyei

Figure 7.1: Michelle Bachelet, the first female President of Chile (2006–10; 2014–18)

Figure 7.2: His Excellency Ambassador Patricio Pradel awards Luise Drüke the Honorary Diploma in Berlin on September 13, 2016

Figure 7.3: Honorary diploma: “Appreciation for your courage” from the State of Chile

Figure 7.4: HE Ambassador Pradel, Luise Drüke, and invitees, including Drüke’s husband, Michel Crousillat-Drüke

Figure 7.5: HE Roberto Garretón Merino, (1941–2021), received the 2020 Human Rights Award

Figure 7.6: HE María Bernabela Herrera Sanguinetti, also known as Belela Herrera (1927–May 17, 2025) received the Prize Montevideana for her life accomplishments

Figure 7.7: Claudio Gonzalez Urbina (1936–), received the 2024 Human Rights Award

Figure 7.8: Veronica Reyna Morales (April 12, 1944–) received the 2025 Human Rights Award

Figure 7.9: Ambassador Edelstam, December 9, 1973, on the plane with refugees

Figure 7.10: Claudio Gonzalez Urbina, Executive Secretary of FASIC, 1975–2016

Figure 7.11: Document stating that, as of April 1, 1976, FASIC assumed the implementation of UNHCR’s family reunion program with different projects

Figure 7.12: FASIC’s Archives & Doc. Center UNESCO World Heritage program

Figure 7.13: At the destination in Hannover, family Jorge Miguel Rojas Hernandez, Rinetta, and their daughter Maisa

Figure 7.14: Entry in the guestbook of the author on January 14, 1974

Figure 7.15: Rinetta Coradi and the author in Santiago, April 1985

Figure 7.16: Rinetta Corradi and the author after 40 years at the airport in Santiago

Figure 7.17: Edith, her husband Horacio, their grandchild and the author, January 2013

Figure 7.18: At the author’s home in Hannover with Chilean exiles, January 14, 1974

Figure 7.19: The author with Belela Herrera (right), her predecessor in Chile and later the UNHCR Regional Representative in Argentina, September 18, 1984

Figure 7.20: Meeting with the French Ambassador Leon Bouvier, 1984

Figure 7.21: The colleagues at UNHCR Santiago in April 1985

Figure 7.22: Participants at the Workshop at U. Diego Portales, Host: Prof. Carlos Peña, Rector

Figure 7.23: Headquarters and Archive of FASIC in Santiago, Chile

Figure 7.24: Verónica Renya, Chief Lawyer, FASIC, 40th anniversary of FASIC

Figure 7.25: H.E. Eva Zetterberg hosted a memorable exchange, Swedish Residence

Figure 7.26: The author presents the main points on the case study on Chilean refugees

Figure 7.27: Roberto Garretón, former Chief Lawyer at the Vicaría, Chile

Figure 7.28: Eliana Bronfman, former lawyer at UNHCR Chile

Figure 7.29: Edith Perez, one of the students in the author’s German class, 1974

Figure 7.30: Claudio Vasquez exile in Hannover, held ambassadorial post after 1990

Figure 7.31: Edith Perez, the author, 50 years after; visiting Hannover on her 65th anniversary

Figure 7.32: 40th anniversary after the military coup, September 11, 2013, Chile Agradece

Figure 7.33: Victor Jara station (formerly Estadio de Chile used for detentions after 1973)

Figure 7.34: Villa Grimaldi was a center of kidnapping, torture, and extermination

Figure 7.35: Decree 1308 Authorizing the National Commission for Aid to Refugees of October 3, 1973

Figure 7.36: UNHCR Note Verbale SANT 187 of March 25, 1985

Figure 7.37: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Note verbale, No. 09176 of April 25, 1985 confirmed that Chileans not in the negative list have no impediments to enter the country

Figure 7.38: Resettlement and family reunion: September 1973 through March 1985

Figure 7.39: Individual Returns only 1984 through March 1985 (to show countries of exile)

Figure 7.40: Geographic map of Chile

Figure 8.1: HE Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, Prime Minister, Speaker of Parliament, Namibia

Figure 8.2: HE Yvette E. Stevens and HE Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila, December 2023

Figure 8.3: The author with Southern African Refugees, in Sierra Leone, December 1977

Figure 8.4: UN Security Council Resolution 435 of September 29, 1978

Figure 8.5: Time Chart, Repatriation: Operation in Angola and Zambia, 1989

Figure 8.6: Staffing Organigram: Angola

Figure 8.7: Namibia Repatriation, Actual Mission Staffing, August 1–November 30, 1989

Figure 8.8: 40,000 Refugees Fly Home. All of their belongings are in one box

Figure 8.9: A number of returning refugees became leading members of the new government, including the new president Sam Nujoma

Figure 8.10: President Sam Nujoma and the author, 1997, in Portugal on a state visit

Figure 8.11: Map: UNHCR Namibia Operation in Angola, 1989

Figure 8.12: Namibia Repatriation Operation: Angola, Botswana, Namibia, Zambia

Figure 8.13: Letter from HC Thorvald Stoltenberg to the author, 1990

Figure 9.1: Institutional history

Figure 9.2: GRF 2023: Multistakeholder Pledge on Economic Inclusion and Social Protection

Figure 9.3: The group of multilateral development banks (MDBs): Joint MDB commitments, GRF 2023

Figure A.1: Donor ranking of all funds to and processed for the OCHA Financial Tracking Service FTS for 2025

Figure A.2: Major donor shift: 2024 compared to 2025, Top 10 donors

Figure A.3: Largest donors of In-donor refugee costs in official development assistance

Figure A.4: Number of total returnees between 2016 and mid-2005

Figure A.5: Contributions pledged to the Programme of UNHCR for 2006, December 2, 2025

Figure A.6: Dashboard on Pledge Submissions, 1 January 2019–31 March 2026

Figure A.7: UN High Commissioner for Refugees Dr. Barham Salih

Figure A.8: HC Dr. Salih interacting with students in the school in the Kakuma settlement

Figure A.9: Rez Gardi, Special Assistant to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Figure A.10: Fullfilled pledges gaining momentum

Figure A.11: Refugee participation surges

Tables

Table 2.1: There were more than 11 million displaced non-German persons in Europe after World War II

Table 3.1: Between 1944 and 1948, 11,900,000 Germans were forced to move from their areas of origin

Table 7.1: Breakdown of foreign refugees who left Chile and countries that accepted them after September 11, 1973

Table 7.2: Returns 1976–89

Table 7.3: Voluntary returns 1989–1994 assisted by the National Office of Return of the new Government of Chile

Table 7.4: Returnees’ continents of exile

Table 7.5: Example of legal status of the Chileans in Hannover (1973–2002)

Foreword

This book presents an indispensable analysis of the complex realities of refugee protection, enriched by detailed case studies from various regions. Through meticulous research and extensive original material, the author offers insights into the political and ethical challenges faced by practitioners, making this book a valuable resource for both students and professionals in the field. Building on the success of Luise Drüke’s earlier book, Innovations in Refugee Protection (2014), this volume continues to shed light on the dynamic and often precarious landscape of refugee protection with clarity and depth.

Ruvendrini Menikdiwela

Assistant High Commissionr for Refugees (Jan. 2024 to June 2026)

Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)

Preface

This compendium is intended to provide documentary evidence of innovative solutions before and since the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) of 2018 to critically examine progress of its main goals for fairer global responsibility-sharing, anchored in the principles of the 1951 Convention and assess more predictable support for host- and refugees communities. Looking at a century of innovative efforts by several generations on behalf of and often with refugees themselves, this work shows that, since the beginning of the international refugee regime under the League of Nations, innovative efforts have had uneven results but overall have been central in protecting refugees and finding solutions. The research was originally planned to cover up to the end 2024 but the time frame was extended to take into account the leadership transition from HC Grandi to HC Salih, to look at the new situation of massive funding shortages and greater uncertainties in international and multilateral relations, since 2025 in terms of policy, law, and funding. Recent lamentable developments have already had a deep impact on the global refugee regime and on humanitarian work in general. The research presented here on the results to date of the implementation of the Global Compact on Refugees is therefore intended to show results.

My engagement with human rights and refugee work was driven by a personal reason. The dark legacy of World War II atrocities, the humanitarian engagement of my mother as the local president of the Red Cross, and my early exposure in West Germany to political challenges in the post–World War II period all influenced my early childhood and youth. It made me aware that new political circumstances can make it frighteningly easy to identify and scapegoat new “enemies” and subsequently to reinterpret or amend laws to justify acts such as the burning of synagogues and to justify the persecution of human beings. For that reason, I have been trying to do my part for over 50 years in practical and academic human rights work and refugee protection.

I began my work in the field of human rights in 1970 as a volunteer in the Amnesty International section at the University of Hannover, where I studied political science and law and started writing letters to political prisoners under the apartheid regime in South Africa. After studying at the Sorbonne and the University of Paris VIII (Vincennes) (1972–1973), I travelled via Peru to Santiago in Chile to work as a translator from late July to early September 1973. The general strike against the Allende government was then in progress, complete with demonstrations, rising tensions, and violent political debates. On September 11, 1973, while boarding my plane in Lima to return to Europe, news of the military coup and the death of Chilean President Salvador Allende was announced over the airport loudspeakers. Shocked, I immediately wrote an article that was published in Germany about my observations and impressions.1

This experience in Chile, the subsequent article and, from December 1973, my voluntary work with Chilean refugees eventually determined my life’s direction on a dual track of international refugee work on the ground and academic teaching. Having begun as an instructor of German as a second language for Chilean refugees and translating documents; interpreting in solidarity meetings for searching missing relatives; and helping to find furniture, schools, and student scholarships, I soon came to better understand what it means to fear for one’s life and to search for missing family members far away without being able to return safely or freely. This experience left such a deep impression that I decided after graduation in France, to take up an offer of the German government (BFIO) to join the United Nations in 1977 and work in international refugee protection with opportunities to make a difference. After a decade of assignments first in Geneva and then in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, I felt the need to process all those experiences during a sabbatical at Harvard University. That enabled me to complete an MA in Public Administration and then my doctoral thesis, Preventive Action for Refugee Producing Situations, which was published by Peter Lang in 1990.

From 2006 on, after nearly 30 years heading UNHCR missions and offices, I was invited to serve as visiting researcher or scholar and part-time faculty member in the field of International Relations, first at MIT, and then at the Universities of Harvard, Suffolk (Boston, MA) and the Leibniz Universität Hannover, with a focus on refugee and UN-related studies. Colleagues, students, and friends encouraged me to write another book, Innovations in Refugee Protection, which was also published by Peter Lang in 2013. Since then, the number of refugees and other forcibly displaced persons has doubled. Against that background, the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) was created in 2018. It was encouraging and yet complex to study the content, application, and outcome of this new framework. The present book, now available as an open access publication by Peter Lang Academic Publishers, looks at innovative solutions during the past 100 years and of the Global Compact on Refugees of 2018 at work. It’s four main objectives are: to ease pressure on host countries, enhance refugee self-reliance, expand access to third-country solutions like resettlement, and support conditions in countries of origin so refugees can return voluntarily in safety and dignity. Since 1920, first the League of Nations and then the United Nations and their partners have had to adapt to unprecedented challenges with agility and international cooperation in order to provide protection and assistance to refugees and forcibly displaced and stateless persons. During the last few decades, attempts of cooperating with development actors, for example, in order to seek more inclusive solutions remained ad hoc and did not take roots.

In Part I of the book, Chapter 1 reminds the reader that, although there have always been refugees, international refugee protection only began 100 years ago. In 1921, the League of Nations, with Dr. Fridjof Nansen as the first High Commissioner for Refugees, began providing international protection for a large number of refugees and stateless persons from the Russian Empire. The Nansen Passport was created to confirm their legal status. As is known, international protection as a substitute for national protection is needed when a state fails to protect its own citizens from persecution or serious harm. When the author met Russian refugees in Chile whilst she was in charge of the UNHCR there between 1983 and 1985, to see that one of their identity documents was still the Nansen Passport served as a powerful reminder of that time.

Chapter 3 gives a taste of how individual High Commissioners have been instrumental in refugee protection. In 1951, on the nomination by the then UN Secretary-General, the United Nations elected by secret ballot Dr. Gerrit J. van Heuven Goedhardt, himself with lived experience, as the first UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Having had to flee for fear of persecution, he knew what it feels like to be a refugee. His experience impacted the drafting of Article 31 of the 1951 Refugee Convention, which states:

Article 31: Refugees unlawfully in the country of refuge

  1. The Contracting States shall not impose penalties, on account of their illegal entry or presence, on refugees who, coming directly from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened in the sense of article 1, enter or are present in their territory without authorization, provided they present themselves without delay to the authorities and show good cause for their illegal entry or presence.
  2. The Contracting States shall not apply to the movements of such refugees restrictions other than those which are necessary and such restrictions shall only be applied until their status in the country is regularized or they obtain admission into another country. The Contracting States shall allow such refugees a reasonable period and all the necessary facilities to obtain admission into another country.2

High Commissioner Goedhardt, during the drafting process, argued that it would be unfortunate if a refugee in similar circumstances was penalized. As Professor Guy Goodwin-Gill also stated, “To impose penalties without regard to the merits of an individual’s claim to be a refugee will likely also violate the obligation of the State to ensure and to protect the human rights of everyone within its territory or subject to its Jurisdiction.”3

Details

Pages
812
Publication Year
2026
ISBN (PDF)
9783631943687
ISBN (ePUB)
9783631943694
ISBN (Softcover)
9783631943700
DOI
10.3726/b23214
Open Access
CC-BY
Language
English
Publication date
2026 (October)
Keywords
Refugee protection UNHCR The UN Refugee Agency Global Compact on Refugees international law durable solutions development actors meaningful refugee participation
Published
Berlin, Bruxelles, Chennai, Lausanne, New York, Oxford, 2026. 812 pp., 162 fig. col., 4 fig. b/w, 10 tables.
Product Safety
Peter Lang Group AG

Biographical notes

Luise Drüke (Author)

Luise Drüke is a German scholar and former UNHCR official whose contributions formed part of the agency’s Nobel Peace Prize recognition in 1981. She led missions across four continents and held academic positions at Harvard, MIT, Leibniz University Hannover, and others. Her publications and teaching bridge UN humanitarian issues, refugee policy, law & practice.

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Title: Innovations in Solutions