Refugees and social protection

Set out under SDG 1, social protection is a right enshrined in international human right law; yet, it is often state-backed and citizenship-based. This means that refugees and other ʼnon-citizens’ groups are excluded from access to benefits. In this chapter, we discuss how and why meeting the social protection needs of refugees must be viewed as a critical item on policy agendas, and how it would be a crucial step to establish a long-term strategy that assists refugees (especially those in protracted situations) to have productive lives and accomplish an adequate level of well-being. The chapter specifically delineates between the contexts of low and middle income countries versus Europe. It illustrates that the access for refugees to social protection varies and depends on a multiplicity of factors, including the host country’s legal framework, the maturity of the social protection system in place, and the ability to incorporate shock-responsive social protection mechanisms within social protection programming.