Local perspectives on humanitarian aid in Sri Lanka after the tsunami

Objectives: This case study examines the impact of humanitarian aid from the perspectives of local stakeholders in Sri Lanka following the tsunami disaster of December 2004. Study Design: Qualitative study using key-informant and focus group interviews. Methods: Key-informant and focus group interviews were conducted with tsunami survivors, community leaders, the local authorities and aid workers sampled purposively. Data collected was analysed using thematic analysis. Results: The study found that aid had aggravated social tensions and the lack of community engagement led to grievances. There was a perceived lack of transparency, beneficiary expectations were not always met and it was difficult to match aid to needs. Rapid participatory approaches to obtain beneficiary feedback in post disaster settings are possible but have limitations due to respondent bias. Conclusions: In order to mitigate adverse social impacts of their programmes, humanitarian aid agencies need to better understand the context in which aid is delivered. Beneficiary feedback is essential in disaster planning and response so that disaster response can be better matched to the needs of beneficiaries

The effects of development aid on irregular migration to europe: Deterrence or attraction?

MotivationResponding to growing immigration concerns in recent years, European countries have claimed to tackle the root causes of migration using development assistance. Some recent analyses find more aid associated to lower immigration, providing support to this policy. But these findings rely on measures of regular migration, while donors’ concern is on irregular migrants.PurposeThis study tests whether development aid has a deterring effect on irregular migration to Europe.MethodsAdopting innovative data on irregular migration flows to Europe between 2009 and 2016, a simultaneous equations model accounts for the potential endogeneity of both total and bilateral aid.FindingsThe study finds that total aid does not significantly reduce numbers of migrants apprehended at Europe’s border. Moreover, bilateral aid tends to raise these numbers. The estimated costs for each deterred irregular migrant are high: in the best‐case scenario the range is between USD 150,000 and USD 320,000. The estimated costs to deter regular migrants are even higher, between USD 0.9 million and USD 2.5 million. Both estimates concur with those from previous work. Findings are robust to different aid measures and specifications.Policy implicationsEmpirical results provide no evidence to support the use of development aid to deter migration