Beyond tokenism:

Refugees and displaced communities are often invited to share their experiences in policy discussions, yet their knowledge is systematically extracted, repackaged, and used without granting them real decision-making power. While global frameworks promote "inclusive" governance, the reality is far from it. Refugee-led organisations (RLOs) remain trapped as beneficiaries rather than equal partners, forced to compete for small, short-term funding while access to policymaking remains tightly controlled by international agencies. Meanwhile, intergovernmental bodies and INGOs continue to operate refugee governance as a business model, sustaining their influence while limiting refugee leadership to symbolic participation. This article challenges these exploitative structures and calls for genuine refugee leadership in decision-making.

Refugee Leadership in Policy-Making: Moving Beyond Tokenism

The global refugee protection landscape is evolving, yet the meaningful participation of refugees and refugee-led organisations (RLOs) remains a challenge. While a multi-stakeholder approach is often promoted, true co-leadership by those with lived experience is still lacking. The question is no longer whether refugees should participate in policymaking but how we can ensure their leadership is embedded at the heart of the process.

Ensuring Refugee Leadership in Decision-Making

Refugees and forcibly displaced people must be involved at every stage of asylum policymaking—from design to monitoring and evaluation. However, practical barriers such as limited access to decision-making spaces, power imbalances, and bureaucratic constraints prevent their full participation. Structural marginalisation, particularly of women, youth, and stateless individuals, further deepens these challenges.

A significant issue is the systematic extraction of knowledge and lived experiences from displaced communities, keeping them as mere beneficiaries rather than leaders. Their insights are often repackaged into policy frameworks without credit, while they are left competing for small funds with restricted access to decision-making. Participation is frequently kept at a low level, limited in time and scope, ensuring that refugees remain dependent on international organisations rather than becoming equal partners in shaping policies.

A shift towards equal partnerships is critical. This means recognising RLOs not as passive beneficiaries but as co-leaders in governance and implementation. In ongoing discussions, proposals such as weighted voting systems—where RLOs have a stronger voice in decision-making—are emerging as key strategies for ensuring authentic inclusion.

Reforming Legal and Policy Frameworks

International and regional refugee protection frameworks must evolve to institutionalise refugee participation. Current policies often lack precise mechanisms for refugee-led engagement, treating participation as an add-on rather than a core principle. Learning from existing initiatives, we need to build scalable models of refugee leadership, ensuring their role extends beyond advisory input to decision-making authority.

Additionally, multi-stakeholder collaborations must prioritise capacity-building, equitable funding, and sustainable support for RLOs. This means shifting resources and power towards the communities most affected by displacement, ensuring they shape the policies that define their futures, not just inform them.

Moving Forward

The path toward inclusive and equitable refugee policies requires more than symbolic representation. It demands structural changes in how asylum, migration, and refugee protection policies are conceived and implemented. As we work towards shared responsibility, we must actively challenge the barriers that keep refugee voices on the sidelines.

Real change requires more than dialogue—a systemic transformation that embeds refugee leadership into policy structures at all levels.

Anila Noor is a distinguished policy and social change expert, advisor, and advocate with over two decades of experience shaping high-level policymaking. She co-founded well-known refugee-led networks and is the proud founder of New Women Connectors, an initiative transforming meaningful participation into lasting partnerships. Anila collaborates extensively with European institutions, serving as a trusted voice on migration, gender equality, and refugee rights. She champions intersectional justice and systemic change through her work, driving impactful solutions for a more inclusive and equitable society.

https://www.facebook.com/newwomenconnectors

https://www.linkedin.com/company/newwomenconnectors

https://www.instagram.com/newwomenconnectors/