Policyblog
Policyblog is the second in a series of refblogs hosted by ICAR. It is authored by ICAR researcher Gareth Morrell and it will keep a critical eye on asylum and refugee policy in the UK and internationally.
Compensating Palestinian refugees
11 January 2008
The pronouncements made by President Bush and, in his new capacity as Middle East Quartet envoy, Tony Blair on prospects for a peace agreement between Israel and, at least, the Palestinian Authority have been cautiously optimistic. Both are clear that an end to the occupation of some Palestinian territory and a solution to the refugee problem are fundamental pre-requisites. Yet while they may be able to muster the political will from within the Israeli government for retreating from occupied territories, the refugee problem is more complex and, perhaps, a more fundamental barrier to peace.
Worth reading...
8 January 2008
…from IDMC this update looks at the scale of displacement in the ongoing political and humanitarian crisis in Kenya, claiming that up to 100,000 people have so far been displaced.
…from the Economist this special report makes the case for governments continuing to facilitate greater labour migration, claiming that population movements have in recent years benefited both sending and receiving countries.
…from the New Statesman this article questions the EHRC’s lack of interest in the caste system still, apparently, prevalent among parts of Britain’s Asian community.
Libertarian vs. Communitarian?
8 January 2008
Since the premature proclamation of the ‘end of history’ following the collapse of the Soviet Union, those believing in the end of the old left and right division that has been central to modern politics have proffered a number of other dividing lines that will define the next political era. Some suggest power struggles between different levels of regional, national and supra-national government; others suggest that diffuse identity politics will replace any clear political division.
This article (requires subscription) by Julian Baggini presents a more persuasive argument that the challenge for the future in to manage the division between people that believe rights are universal and unconditional and those that believe rights are earned through responsibility. This division between Libertarians and Communitarians, he argues, cuts across traditional left and right. Additionally, though, this division reflects a divide that is common in the debate over immigration and borders. Those who argue for open borders do so out of fundamentalist libertarian belief in universal rights; those arguing for closed borders do so on the basis of a belief that rights that come from being within a sovereign state should be derived only from either blood, birth or, more moderately, fulfilling certain obligations.
The reality, of course, is that immigration policy and border control lies somewhere in middle. Theoretically, asylum is a marker of a libertarian approach that offer rights to those considered in need; immigration control and access to welfare and citizenship represents aspects of the communitarian tradition of earning your place. If Baggini is right about the future cleavage of politics, then policy and attitudes on asylum and immigration will offer a clear illustrative example.
ICAR’s rights and responsibilities project is looking at how refugees in the UK percieve the relationship between their own rights and responsiblities and how this affected by different political systems in the country of origin and their experiences of integration in the UK.
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