Reframing the Refugee Crisis: From Rescue to Interconnection Cover Image

Nowe ujęcie kryzysu uchodźczego: od pomocy do wzajemnych powiązań
Reframing the Refugee Crisis: From Rescue to Interconnection

Author(s): Serena Parekh
Subject(s): Political Philosophy
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
Keywords: Refugees; refugee camps; structural injustice; asylum seekers; resettlement

Summary/Abstract: In this paper I argue that we should not frame the debate over whether or not we have duties to help refugees in terms of duties of rescue. This way of framing the issue, where Western states are depicted as rescuing refugees from harms unconnected to them, does not adequately represent the reality experienced by refugees in the 21st century. I suggest that we need a framework that includes the secondary harms experienced by refugees as they try to seek refuge in camps, urban spaces and via asylum. These secondary harms constitute serious violations of human rights and prevent refugees from accessing the minimum conditions of human dignity. As a result, the rescue metaphor is inappropriate and, perhaps more importantly, prevents us from having a proper debate about the obligations of states in general, and Western states in particular, to refugees.

  • Issue Year: 2026
  • Issue No: 66
  • Page Range: 7-29
  • Page Count: 23
  • Language: Polish
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