OGP’s Balkan Declaration: How OGP can support Refugees
More and more nations are experiencing a refugee crisis, either as countries of transit or as a destination for refugees. Though such migration is not a new phenomenon, it still managed to surprise many governments and organizations. With wars, failed states, natural disasters and now increasingly climate change, there are many factors forcing people to flee their homeland.
Although migration crises are not new, the current ones face new realities. Perhaps the biggest one is that among contemporary refugees, there are many mobile phone and smartphone users: professionals, skilled workers, middle class people, and even the poor have used their savings or borrowed the money for voyages that would be much more difficult without smartphones.
Mobile devices are being used to keep groups of refugees connected, to stay in touch with those left behind, to contact the family members or friends refugees seek to join in European countries, to follow the news, and for orientation in unknown cities and countries. The recent shift in the “refugee corridor” due to the new wall being built on the border to Hungary is a particularly dramatic example of smartphone-influenced migrant movement.
Helpful and kind individuals, organizations and companies are facilitating refugee welfare through smartphone use, for instance by providing free wifi access and charging stations.
However, many refugees are still in the dark. Many don’t speak English, and almost none speak local languages, for which GoogleTranslate is inadequate. Refugees are not familiar with the relevant laws and regulations of the country they are in or about to enter. They are not familiar with international declarations and treaties that cover their rights. They don’t know how to reach local services that can save their lives or those of their children.
Refugee recipients face similar challenges: volunteers as well as police and military personnel are unprepared. They also need communication and information support, such as guidelines on what is legal in terms of help, where to direct women in laborTransparent workforce data and increased representation of workers in labor policy-making lead to policies that better protect workers’ rights and remove barriers for underrepresented groups in the ..., or how to assist unaccompanied children.
There is no hope that the crisis will stop any time soon. That is why the OGP Western Balkans Dialogue meeting in Tirana invited governments and civil society organizations to create online resources for refugees, volunteers, and civil servants in the spirit of proactive openness. Once again, partnership among these stakeholders is crucial, and all actors should work together to tackle the refugee crisis.
Full transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More on rights and rules for the refugees is needed, as well as information on opportunities for citizens to help in the current situation. In order to achieve such transparency, the OGP dialogue calls for an online database that is accessible and easy to use – it should contain information on legislationCreating and passing legislation is one of the most effective ways of ensuring open government reforms have long-lasting effects on government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or r..., regulations and local resources in English, local languages, and languages that are spoken by refugees themselves. It should be an open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici..., open code, open source platform that is free to share and free to reuse in both format and license.
Such a platform would meet one of the OGP’s original grand challenges – Creating Safer Communities — by providing measures that address public safety, security, disaster and crisis response, and environmental threats. This is about making government real for people.
The OGP’s commitments, values and raison d’etre call for immediate action!
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Sample action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... for each country
0. OGP For Refugees coordination group is created in country
1. Ministry of JusticeTo address barriers that prevent citizens from having their justice needs met, OGP participating governments are working to expand transparency, accountability, and inclusion into all systems of justi... gathers relevant articles
2. Ministry of Interior or civil affairs lists relevant resources in country
3. Civili society makes inventory list of organizations and initiatives that are helping refugees
4. Ministry of foreign affairs uses its interpeters to translate texts, or delegates to relevant departments at state universities
5. Content is placed on basic web site
6. Android and IoS applications are created (hackathons, crowdsourcing programers, developers, UX people)
7. Web site and application is constantly updated, improved and promoted to refugees, volunteers and public servants
……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Text adopted in Tirana
In full solidarity with the current refuge crises, “Open Government Partnership” community gathered in Tirana, invites governments and civil society organisations of OGP member countries that experience immigration or transition of refugees, to act upon that humanitarian and human rightsAn essential part of open government includes protecting the sacred freedoms and rights of all citizens, including the most vulnerable groups, and holding those who violate human rights accountable. T... crisis in the spirit of proactive openness.
Every country should create a special info site dedicated to this issue that will aggregate all related data that refugees, activists and state employees can benefit from. Namely, articles from the laws and regulations that deal with refugees rights, immigrant rights, unaccompanied children issue, social and health protection, trafficking prevention, alongside with the comprehensive list of contacts for governmental and civil society services that provide assistance or protection.
Site should also include all relevant articles from international declarations, conventions and treaties, should be in English, local language and in languages of refugee population and should be appropriately promoted and advertised.
Tirana, September 11th 2015.
Banner image can be found here.