Refugee Rights: Against Expanding the Definition of a “Refugee” and Unilateral Protection Elsewhere

Habitat loss and climate change are displacing animals at alarming rates. In response, authors in the humanities and the sciences have described animals rhetorically as ‘refugees’. Such a description implies a strong call to action. However, the term ‘refugee’ may serve as more than mere rhetoric, indicating in a more literal way the response most proper to some persecuted, traumatized and displaced animals, and prioritizing those animals. We test the claim that animals can be refugees using widely accepted criteria in the Refugee Convention. If refugees are those who, due to a well‐founded fear of persecution for reasons of their group identity, are unwilling or unable to avail themselves of the protection of their country, then some animals may be refugees. Recent behavioural research on African elephants Loxodonta africana demonstrates that many elephants meet the criteria, even without recourse to the claim that they are persons. We outline the essential requirements of an animal refugee policy. We find that current biodiversity conservation policy is likely inadequate to provide for animal refugees, although important lessons can be taken from the collective experience of conservation scientists and managers. An obligation to animal refugees poses new challenges, both theoretical and practical, for ecological restoration, conservation and human–animal relations. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

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“…Others have argued that the legal criteria are appropriately restrictive on both moral and prudential grounds (e.g. Cherem, ).…”

Section: Who Is a Refugee?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Elephants as refugees

Derham

Mathews

2020

People and Nature

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“…Such actions are praiseworthy and desirable, but they are not mandatory and subject to sanctions in case of non-compliance. Human rights protection, by contrast, belongs to the realm of justice and concerns actions (or omissions) that are mandatory, enforceable and subject to sanctions in case of non-compliance (Cherem 2016). In other words, the pursuit of the goals set by the ethics of assistance is much less binding than human rights norms.…”

Section: Two Forms Of Protection: Humanitarianism and Human Rightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The European Union and the Global Compacts on Refugees and Migration: A Philosophical Critique

Boucher

Gördemann

2020

Interventions

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“…The solution to poverty really does lie in development not refugee policy. 12 Call this the Better Alternatives Argument. We will return to it below.…”

Section: Imagine a Hospital Is Considering The Following Policiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Refugee Discrimination – The Good, the Bad, and the Pragmatic

Oberman

2020

J Applied Philosophy

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This article addresses three questions. To what extent does the current refugee regime discriminate among refugees? When is such discrimination wrong? Could discrimination ever be justified pragmatically, for the sake of admitting more refugees given political constraints? In answer to the first question, it finds discrimination is rampant. There is the kind of discrimination that gets noticed: discrimination that states choose to enact within the refugee regime. But there is also a kind of discrimination that is missed: discrimination that is a product of the regime itself. The second question proves tricky. Matters are clear at the extremes. Discrimination based on need is permissible. Discrimination based on race or religion is not. In between, we have a set of hard cases that are more difficult to judge. The article searches for relevant criteria. Finally, on the last question, the article concludes that a political leader could be justified in enacting discrimination as a pragmatic response to political constraints but that, even on such occasions, discrimination remains wrongful.

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Refugee Rights: Against Expanding the Definition of a “Refugee” and Unilateral Protection Elsewhere

Cited by 58 publications

References 34 publications

Elephants as refugees

Elephants as refugees

The European Union and the Global Compacts on Refugees and Migration: A Philosophical Critique

Refugee Discrimination – The Good, the Bad, and the Pragmatic

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