Migration and Refugee Forum for the Arab World (MARFA)

The Migration and Refugee Forum for the Arab World (MARFA) is an independent network of Arab academics, human rights activists and lawyers that emerged in response to the dire need for a collective approach to championing the rights of migrants and refugees and raising awareness about related pressing issues in the region, including statelessness and the Arab diaspora.

MARFA strives to stimulate a positive dialogue with prominent major local, national and regional actors to counter challenges related to the management of the migrant and refugee issues. It focuses on enabling the region to develop comprehensive national plans that anticipate crises in the Arab World while augmenting emergency relief at the national and regional levels.

OUR MISSION

MARFA coordinates advocacy efforts to protect and enforce the rights of migrants and refugees by utilizing its network and platform to produce and disseminate knowledge to the main stakeholders while augmenting the voice and reach of the Arabic experience and perspective.

OUR VISION

To strengthen the national and regional legal frameworks for migrant and refugee protection and deliver meaningful contributions to decision-making processes in the Arab World to achieve more effective and practical approaches that are aligned with international law and in a manner that reflects the history, culture and development of the Arab world. MARFA aims to invest in the development and implementation of fair and durable solutions to avert the reasons for asylum and migration.

WE DELIVER OUR MISSION THROUGH:

1. Stimulating and engaging in policy-level interventions, nationally, regionally and internationally.
2. Motivating dialogue and pushing for regional agreements on migration and asylum seekers.
3. Monitoring the migrant and refugee state of affairs through a detailed and continuously updated database
4. Championing enhanced protection mechanisms and durable solutions for refugees and asylum seekers.
5. Combatting the use of migrants and refugees as political bargaining chips, security threat(s) or any other act that exposes them to endangerment.
6. Supporting the production of local research and studies, specifically in the Arabic language, to encourage and develop local expertise and perspectives.
7. Analyzing international best practices that underscore the positive impacts of migrants and refugees on the host countries.
8. Addressing the fear-of-the-other phenomenon and the discriminatory practices that emerge therefrom; and, raising the level of confidence in the abilities of national authorities in hosting refugees and migrants.
9. Initiating national plans to enable emergency relief efforts in times of crises in the Arab world, with emphasis on refugee crises in the Arab World.
10. Stimulating the adoption of comprehensive national action plans to respond to national gaps in the budgets allocated to migrants and refugees.
11. Observing and flagging regional and international containment strategies towards Arab migrants and refugees.