Refuge: Reading Journal #3

   This week’s reading opens with an exploration of the ethical precedent that has been set by past refugee situations – the need to help refugees is not a new phenomenon, and we have certainly responded with generosity in the past. Through the principles of a “duty to rescue” and ethical dilemmas presented by the author, we are given insight into how we have failed not only through political process, but also through a timely application of the “head and the heart”. Finally, Chapter 5 discusses the shortcomings of our “humanitarian silo” system in which we focus on the small percentage of refugees who are able to reach the developed world, and that a better system would provide autonomy to refugees in appropriate haven countries.

1. The opening section of our reading gives the examples of Russia, Poland, and Germany as refugee situations that we have accommodated in the past. Does this have anything to do with those countries’ refugees being white Europeans?

2. This section of our reading discusses opportunities for "mutual gain" and "development opportunity" as it relates to the refugee crisis. While these ideas might be necessary and helpful in the discourse of refugee policy, are there any unintended consequences of likening the refugee crisis to the language of a business deal?