Beyond Charity International Cooperation And The Global Refugee Crisis

With more than 18 million refugees worldwide, the refugee problem has fostered an intense debate regarding what political changes are necessary in the international system to provide effective solutions in the 1990s and beyond. In the past, refugees have been perceived largely as a problem of international charity, but as the end of the Cold War triggers new refugee movements across the globe, governments are being forced to develop a more systematic approach to the refugee problem. Beyond Charity provides the first extensive overview of the world refugee crisis today, asserting that refugees raise not only humanitarian concerns but also issues of international peace and security. Gil Loescher argues persuasively that a central challenge in the post Cold-War era is to develop a comprehensive refugee policy that preserves the right of asylum while promoting greater political and diplomatic efforts to address the causes of flight. He presents the contemporary crisis in a historical framework and explores the changing role of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Loescher suggests short-term and long-term reforms that address both the current refugee crisis and its underlying causes. The book also details the ways governmental structures and international organizations could be strengthened to assume more effective assistance, protection, and political mediation functions. Beyond Charity helps frame the debate on the global refugee crisis and offers directions for more effective approaches to refugee problems at present and in the future.

This fact-filled resource helps readers understand the current turmoil and controversy surrounding the global refugee problem. Here, in one volume, can be found a thorough overview of the refugee crisis—from the early 1900s to the present day. The events that created refugee populations and the efforts of international agencies and governments to deal with the crisis, as well as the financial and legal constraints those organizations face, are all covered in detail. Biographical sketches of refugee activists and notable refugees are also included. A directory of international organizations and resettlement agencies and annotated lists of print and nonprint resources assist readers in further study efforts. The Global Refugee Crisis delivers solid, useful information that can serve as a foundation for decision-making, research, or simply enhanced understanding of this critical subject.

Refugees and other forced migrants are one of the great contemporary challenges the world is confronting. Throughout the world people leave their home countries to escape war, natural disasters, and cultural and political oppression. Unfortunately, even today, the international community struggles to provide an adequate response to this vast population in need. This Very Short Introduction covers a broad range of issues around the causes and impact of the contemporary refugee crisis for both receiving states and societies, for global order, and for refugees and other forced migrants themselves. Gil Loescher discusses the identity of refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced persons and how they differ from other forced migrants. He also investigates the long history of the refugee phenomenon and how refugees became a central concern of the international community during the twentieth and twenty first centuries, as well as considering the responses provided by governments and international aid organisations to refugee needs. Loescher concludes by focussing on the necessity of these bodies to understand the realities of the contemporary refugee situation in order to best respond to its current and future challenges. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

This book documents the current global refugee crisis and examines the interrelated factors of immigration enforcement, international human rights law, political violence, and refugee protection. There are two disparate components to the global refugee crisis: first, there are about 46 million refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), most of whom are struggling to survive in the poorest and most violent countries in the world, and second, our interpretation of international human rights law allows this state of affairs to worsen. Refugee protection has been a longstanding policy that ostensibly protects victims of human rights violations from other countries. In actuality, protection is largely negated by systematic efforts by industrialized states to reduce the number of refugees arriving at the borders. This book provides a comprehensive examination of this worldwide problem and rejects the idea that the majority of asylum seekers abuse the system to gain entrance into the country.

Media pundits, politicians, and the public are often skeptical or ambivalent about granting asylum. They fear that asylum-seekers will impose economic and cultural costs and pose security threats to nationals. Consequently, governments of rich, democratic countries attempt to limit who can approach their borders, which often leads to refugees breaking immigration laws. In Refuge beyond Reach, David Scott FitzGerald traces how rich democracies have deliberately and systematically shut down most legal paths to safety. Drawing on official government documents, information obtained via WikiLeaks, and interviews with asylum seekers, he finds that for ninety-nine percent of refugees, the only way to find safety in one of the prosperous democracies of the Global North is to reach its territory and then ask for asylum. FitzGerald shows how the US, Canada, Europe, and Australia comply with the letter of law while violating the spirit of those laws through a range of deterrence methods-first designed to keep out Jews fleeing the Nazis-that have now evolved into a pervasive global system of "remote control." While some of the most draconian remote control practices continue in secret, Fitzgerald identifies some pressure points and finds that a diffuse humanitarian obligation to help those in need is more difficult for governments to evade than the law alone. Refuge beyond Reach addresses one of the world's most pressing challenges-how to manage flows of refugees and other types of migrants-and helps to identify the conditions under which individuals can access the protection of their universal rights.

Why do people seeking asylum often break immigration laws ? Refuge Beyond Reach shows how rich democracies deliberately and systematically shut down most legal paths to safety. An architecture of repulsion in the air, at sea, and on land keeps most refugees far away from places where they can ask for sanctuary.

This book comprehensively analyzes the global illusion of citizen protection so common today.