While existing international humanitarian and legal tools are designed to deal with refugees on an individualized basis and within short-term crises, we are witnessing a structural human displacement problem that is becoming more and more acute. In response to this growing global crisis, the FMHT was founded in March 2015 at the Pardee School of Global Studies, Boston University. It is fitting tha
t this initiative should be housed at the Pardee School—which boasts an interdisciplinary faculty committed to developing long-term sustainable policy solutions to some of the most pressing issues of our time. FMHT was founded to bring together these scholars and practitioners in order to create policies and resources that have an impact beyond the classroom. We are enriched by our location in Boston—with its vibrant history as a migrant and refugee host city and thriving community of academics that is unparalleled in the United States. Our members include political scientists, sociologists, lawyers, doctors, economists, public health professionals, anthropologists, and religious figures; academics, practitioners, policymakers, and students. By drawing specialists from such a broad range of fields, we are able to discuss and craft more comprehensive policies to propose to various stakeholders in humanitarian assistance. Our partnership with the Boston Consortium for Arab Region Studies allows us to include academics and students from the entire Boston area and further develop our ability to cultivate multiple approaches to migration and trafficking.
