Thousands of displaced people fleeing conflict and poverty across Africa and the Middle East are stranded in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia—countries with inadequate infrastructure to protect them. The Maghreb region is widely seen as a transit zone for migration toward Europe, but it has become a destination in its own right, hosting vulnerable people whose rights are routinely infringed and whose relationships with local populations are often tense. Europe depends on these states to manage migration flows, yet the states lack the legal frameworks, healthcare access, education pathways, and employment opportunities needed to support displaced populations. MADAR (Maghreb Action on Displacement and Rights) builds a network of UK and Maghreb-based researchers, civil society organisations, activists, and artists to address this gap. The project commissions interdisciplinary research across the arts, humanities, and social sciences to identify practical measures that improve protection. If successful, MADAR will inform national asylum and migration policies in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia, strengthen institutional frameworks, and develop strategies to counter racism and xenophobia. The work also builds research capacity among Maghreb scholars and creates sustainable partnerships that outlast the grant, generating knowledge that could influence neighbouring regions in the Middle East and Africa.
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The Maghreb Action on Displacement and Rights (MADAR) Network Plus is a regional approach to protection in contexts of conflict and displacement in central Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia). MADAR deploys an interdisciplinary approach, a wide range of regional and national research expertise, and established and equitable partnerships with civil society organisations to respond to the complex protection needs of refugees and other displaced people in the region. Maghreb is an important migration hub with links to Africa, the Middle East and Europe. While it is often assumed to be a region of emigration and transit (South-North), the Maghreb is increasingly a destination, including for thousands of displaced people fleeing conflict and endemic poverty in countries across Africa and the Middle East (e.g. Syria and Libya). Europe relies heavily on the cooperation of its neighbours south of the Mediterranean Sea to manage and curb migration in an attempt to reduce arrivals on European shores. In the case of Maghreb, states are not equipped to deal with the increasing number of displaced people; they have inadequate infrastructures to ensure the humanitarian protection of those who are vulnerable, the rights of displaced people are routinely infringed, and relationships with host populations are often fraught. As a consequence, Maghreb hosts a large number of vulnerable displaced people at risk and in need of protection. MADAR (Arabic for 'path') responds to SDG16 to: "Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels". MADAR addresses issues faced by Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia to make a transformational impact on the humanitarian protection of vulnerable, displaced people across the Maghreb region. Through interdisciplinary, challenged-led and solution-focused research MADAR aims to: 1) Facilitate interdisciplinary research collaborations drawing on the regional expertise of UK and Maghreb-based scholars from across the arts and humanities and the social and political sciences. 2) Foster partnerships amongst research institutes in the Maghreb and beyond (e.g. MENA) through MADAR's commissioned, high-impact research projects across the region. 3) Promote research-focused partnerships, developing and sharing best practice amongst academics, activists, artists, and practitioners working on displacement. 4) Identify measures to overcome barriers and enhance access for displaced people to healthcare, education, and employment opportunities. 5) Inform policies, legislation and practices on asylum and migration and promote effective institutional frameworks to support displaced people. 6) Collaborate with civil society organisations in tackling the region-specific causes of racism and xenophobia across the Maghreb to develop strategies for lobbying, advocacy and awareness-raising. MADAR's research findings will contribute to reducing risk and improving protection for displaced people in the Maghreb. It will shape and influence national and regional policies and practices that stimulate and facilitate protection for displaced people in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia respectively. In addition, given its geographical focus, MADAR will generate knowledge which will affect and impact neighbouring regions and beyond. MADAR's key benefit is enhanced protection for people at risk in the contexts of conflict and displacement in the Maghreb. It will also strengthen the research capacity of scholars in the Maghreb region and beyond. MADAR's sustainable partnership with CSOs in the Maghreb will build capacity and enrich relationships and networks across the region.
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