GLOBAL PERSPECTIVES [TO WHAT EXTENT SHOULD COUNTRIES BE MORALLY OBLIGATED TO GIVE ASYLUM TO REFUGEES?]

AMITH SARANYU D.S
10 IGCSE
DECCAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL

“ Turning back boats full of people seeking asylum in their hour of need is not fair.”
- Councilor Linda Scott.

RATIONALE

I chose this topic because I read an article on the Internet stating that the refugee crisis worldwide has displaced 60 million people from their homes since the end of World War II pushing asylum to their limits. That article stated the threat countries are facing as they are fleeing from countries like Syria and Iraq to places like Central America and Africa to seek asylum. I want to research whether countries should be morally obligated to give asylum to refugees. I want to also find out what causes this problem, what effects and consequences this will have on the country. Finally I want to obtain a possible course of action to try to put an end to this problem.

INTRODUCTION

To start, it’s important to note that some people deny that we have moral obligations to needy non-citizens like refugees. For many, the state’s obligations are entirely towards its own citizens. If they acknowledge moral obligations to refugees, they are what philosophers call Good Samaritan obligations: obligations to help non-citizens only when the need is great.

GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

There are many cases in which countries have faced their own refugee crisis like when the US experienced its own refugee