Refugee Protection Standards in Transition: Studying German NGOs and Public Administrations

Abstract

From 2014 to 2015, the number of asylum applications increased by 155 per cent in Germany, which has severely altered Germany’s refugee response system. This article analyses resulting local-level changes in the protection standards for refugees. It sheds light on the interplay between municipal and organisational actors in implementing protections concepts and measures for refugee accommodations. The study applies a neo-institutional research framework to explain organisational behaviour at the level of non-governmental organisations and public administration asking how the security needs of refugee women are met at the “street-level bureaucracy”. Through empirical fieldwork, it shows that in 2018, gender-specific protection standards were higher than before 2014 due to mechanisms of regulative, normative and mimetic isomorphism. The joint development of Minimum Standards for the Protection of Refugees and Migrants in Refugee Accommodation Centres in 2016 by the United Nations Children's Fund, the Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth and numerous non-governmental organisations has supported this process. The research combines current debates in refugee studies with theoretical concepts from organisational sociology, gender studies and policy research.