Protecting Vulnerable Refugees: An empirical examination of the implementation practices of aid workers and state actors in Uganda release_an4xhtrehjd2rdgiuwbvhdtylm

Abstract

<strong>Executive Summary</strong> This research report has been published as part of the EU Horizon 2020 VULNER research project (www.<br> vulner.eu). The VULNER research project is an international research initiative, which objective is to reach<br> a more profound understanding of the experiences of vulnerabilities of migrants applying for asylum and<br> other humanitarian protection statuses, and how they could best be addressed. It therefore makes use<br> of a twofold analysis, which confronts the study of existing protection mechanisms towards vulnerable<br> migrants (such as minors and victims of human trafficking), with the one of their own experiences on the<br> ground.<br> This research report presents some of the <strong>intermediate research results of the VULNER project</strong>, based<br> on the first phase of the project, which consisted of mapping out the vulnerability assessment mecha-<br> nisms developed in Uganda by the office of the United Nations and High Commissioner for Refugees<br> (UNHCR) and international aid agencies, including how they are implemented on the ground through<br> the practices of the public servants and aid workers in charge. <br> <strong>The following research questions are addressed: </strong>What do the relevant domestic legislation, policy<br> documents, and administrative guidelines reveal about how "vulnerabilities" are being assessed and ad-<br> dressed in the countries under study? Do the relevant state and/or aid agencies have a legal duty to as-<br> sess migrants' vulnerabilities, and if yes, using which procedures, when and how? Following which legal<br> and bureaucratic criteria? How do decision-makers (street-level bureaucrats) understand and perceive<br> the 'vulnerabilities' of the migrants they meet on a daily basis? How do they address these 'vulnerabilities'<br> through their everyday practices? What is their stance on existing legal requirements towards 'vulnerable'<br> migrants? Which loopholes do they identify? <br> To that end,<strong> a large numbe [...]
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