Acceptance of Refugees as Ethical and Political Issue

Macanović, Anamaria. (2018). Acceptance of Refugees as Ethical and Political Issue. Diploma Thesis. Filozofski fakultet u Zagrebu, Department of Philosophy. [mentor Jurić, Hrvoje].

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Abstract

Even though the concept of being a refugee has existed since the beginnings of human civilization, today it is becoming a global phenomenon. According to UNHCR, there were 68.5 million displaced persons in 2017. Some of them were forced to leave their countries and look for safety elsewhere. Arrival of large numbers of refugees at the gates of Europe brought about media and politicians attention. There were daily articles on the influence migration has on economy and demographics, reports on agreements between statesmen, on accommodation capacities, covered as cost-benefit analyses for the receiving countries. By ignoring those on the other side, except in cases of terrible tragedies, an ethical vacuum has been created. When closed-border policies and people sleeping in tents along the borders became all too common the media became utterly silent, and the tightening of the framework of state action has been almost unnoticed. This thesis offers a critical analysis which will again make refugees and their rights topics of discussion about immigration policies. A short history of development of refugee rights will give us insight into transformation of the refugee rights and politics of different countries towards refugees depending on different internal and geopolitical interests. By analysing the matters as they are, we will ask the question what they should be like. The objective of this thesis it to answer the following questions: “Why is the definition of refugees too narrow and what are the consequences of this?”, “What is behind the closed-border ethics and policies?” Philosophical thoughts of Hannah Arendt, Jacques Derrida, Immanuel Kant and other authors will help us (re)humanize refugees, introduce them as bearers of valid requests which oblige us to act morally.

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