Refugee Reception Capacity and Intergovernmental Coordination

Authors

  • Christina Angelopoulos Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge (current affiliation) Author
  • Mercy Mwarah Deche Faculty of Law, University of Nairobi (current affiliation) Author

Keywords:

refugees, intergovernmental coordination, local capacity, migration policy, governance

Abstract

Background: The expansion of policy activity around refugees has exposed a potential gap between formal design and day-to-day implementation, particularly in relation to intergovernmental coordination.

Objective: We evaluated the administrative operation of policy concerning refugees, emphasizing transparency, practical implementation conditions, and intergovernmental coordination.

Methods: Across 6 jurisdictions or institutional settings, legal and policy sources were combined with organizational evidence and, when available, key-informant material. Comparative coding focused on authority, coordination, transparency, safeguards, enforcement, and implementation capacity.

Results: Comparative coding revealed three dominant patterns of refugees implementation. Explicit mandates, coordination arrangements, and accessible review mechanisms characterized the higher-performing cases and were associated with a 13% increase in the composite score. Fragmented responsibility was associated with both delay and inconsistent enforcement.

Conclusion: The study suggests that variation in outcomes related to refugees is driven substantially by how institutions organize implementation and oversight. This means that administrative capacity and intergovernmental coordination are central to timely, consistent migration and reception decisions.

Study design: multi-level governance case comparison.

Publication history: Originally published in print on 15 June 2022, Volume 2, Article 7. Online abstract record added on 16 September 2026. Full-text PDF will be added when the digital galley is ready.

Author Biographies

  • Christina Angelopoulos, Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge (current affiliation)

    Current designation: University Associate Professor.

    Current affiliation: Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

    Current author information supplied for the 2026 digital archive.

  • Mercy Mwarah Deche, Faculty of Law, University of Nairobi (current affiliation)

    Current designation: Senior Lecturer.

    Current affiliation: Faculty of Law, University of Nairobi, Kenya.

    Current author information supplied for the 2026 digital archive.

Issue 2

Published

2022-06-15

Issue

Vol. 2 (2022)

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Christina Angelopoulos, Mercy Mwarah Deche

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Authors retain copyright. Unless a different rights statement appears on an individual item, new articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0). Reuse, sharing and adaptation, including for commercial purposes, are permitted with appropriate attribution, a link to the licence and an indication of changes. No additional restrictions may be imposed. Third-party material and historical archive items may have different rights; consult the item-specific notice.