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8 - The way ahead

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

Emma Haddad
Affiliation:
Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford
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Summary

The ten years that I spent with refugees marked a period of continuous humanitarian crises … Try as we might to protect the refugees and alleviate their suffering, humanitarian action alone could not lead to solving their problems. What was required was a convergence of interests covering humanitarian, political, and security action by major international and regional powers.

Sadako Ogata

The post-Cold War era has left the refugee in a state of uncertainty. Refugee policy is now being reinterpreted in the light of countervailing forces in contemporary world politics. On the one hand is the growing security agenda, an agenda that at times gives states a cover for contracting out of their obligations towards refugees; on the other is the sovereignty as responsibility discourse, evidenced in the intervention of states on behalf of refugees and others in need of assistance. How can the pluralism–solidarism tension be balanced so that these two competing interests are taken into consideration when seeking responses to the refugee and refugee policy? This chapter first assesses the current position of the refugee in between the security agenda and the responsibility to protect agenda. It then suggests some ways to move forward with refugee policy. Last, it draws together the themes and findings of this book to analyse the value of the conceptual and historical approach for contemporary refugee policy.

The effects of the security agenda

Whereas during the Cold War threats to states were largely of a military nature, now they have become radically different.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Refugee in International Society
Between Sovereigns
, pp. 192 - 215
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2008

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  • The way ahead
  • Emma Haddad, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford
  • Book: The Refugee in International Society
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511491351.009
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  • The way ahead
  • Emma Haddad, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford
  • Book: The Refugee in International Society
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511491351.009
Available formats
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Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The way ahead
  • Emma Haddad, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford
  • Book: The Refugee in International Society
  • Online publication: 22 September 2009
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511491351.009
Available formats
×