The thesis examines, philosophically and practically, what duties humanity has towards refugees. As the foundation for the thesis, a philosophical background related to human development is provided. Next, a control group of countries in the European Union is used to investigate how refugees impact societies in reality in order to analyze whether countries have an ethical duty to protect their own domestic population, overriding obligations towards refugees. Continuing in this vein, certain political ideologies and religious doctrines are examined in order to determine if there is an underlying theme towards refugees. Stemming from this is an analysis of various international treaties in order to understand what the treaties require and permit countries to do legally. Finally, everything is combined, and the ethical and moral argument related to helping refugees is thoroughly explored. The aim is to uncover the problematization of the current literature and to establish that everyone has ethical duties towards refugees. Refugees are shown not to be a group of people damaging society; not helping refugees in any way damages the human development of a refugee and the inherent moral duties of the person/state/community not providing assistance; all religious doctrines and political ideologies push for...

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2007. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of North Texas, Dec., 2009. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1984. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 40-45).

Self-settlement is not a new concept but has been emerging over the past decade. Academic literature has varied on its definition and has often caused confusion. It has previously been related to ‘spontaneous’ settlement, undocumented migrants, IDP migration and has been blurred amongst the vast literature on local integration. Self-settlement in the context of this research concurs with later academic literature (Bakewell, Hovil, and Polzer) where refugees have greater freedom of movement and may or may not be officially registered. This research refers to refugees who have been externally displaced as a result of conflict and settle outside refugee camps and formal settlements. They negotiate the terms of their settlement directly with host communities who dictate the rate of integration and subsequent access to resources. The Gambia has hosted Casamance refugees fleeing from low-level civil conflict in Southern region of Senegal for nearly 30 years. It is West Africa’s longest running civil conflict. Official registration figures (although ambiguous) estimate 11,000 Casamance refugees are permanently located within 56 rural Gambian communities (WFP 2012). In this context, international legalities are clearly set out as in any other refugee situation. Casamance refugees have taken flight across an international border and until they are able to return they have been granted refugee status and protection in The Gambia under the 1951 Geneva Convention. However, the parameters of refugee terminology is thus confused as refugees are self-settled in host communities instead of formally settled within refugee camps. Refugee literature tends to investigate the impact of camp-based refugees have on local communities. Rarely does this literature investigate local integration through the solution of self-settlement. In addition, the historical, cultural, socio-economic and ethnic ties between The Gambia and Senegal has caused repeated mobilisation across the international border, prior to the conflict and colonialism, and this is further facilitated as the conflict escalates and subsides. As a result of increased demographic pressures, there is increased competition for community resources such as land, ii shelter, water, and natural resources which affect the sustainability of existing livelihood strategies. Adopting the capital assets model from the Sustainable Rural Livelihood Framework, a conceptual framework was devised to understand the integration of Casamance refugees and how they are able to access community resources. As a result, six villages were subject to environmental, socio-economic and livelihood assessments using an extensive multi-method approach over a two phase fieldwork period. This was to understand the impacts of integration, the challenges communities face, and how communities access resources to implement livelihoods. The results from this study indicate that there is relatively equal availability of resources for both groups. However there is differential access to resources, which is based on traditional community structures and the shared cultural heritage between host and refugee. Results also highlighted that tensions did exist between groups as a result of integration and access to resources but these were not necessarily primarily between host and refugee groups and also existed within groups. These tensions however, have been adequately mediated and resolved as a result of the traditional community structures in place within these communities. The thesis presents three themes of discussion from the results of this case study. Firstly, the theme of self-settlement will be revisited and argued that it can be considered a temporary and durable solution in refugee situations given an understanding of traditional community structures and common characteristics shared between host and refugee groups. Secondly, it re-engages with the SRL Framework and adapts the capital asset model for self-settled refugee situations. Finally, self-settlement will be considered in relation to various levels of policy and how it can be adapted in order to understand self-settlement and meet the demands of both host and refugee groups.

Thesis -- University of Pretoria, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 151-155).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1964. / Typescript. Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical essay (leaves 419-435) and bibliographical references.

Set against the backdrop of the Cold War and the declining British Empire, this thesis explores how the Hong Kong government handled the Vietnamese refugee crisis of the 1970s. The Vietnamese refugee influx started after the fall of Saigon in 1975 and temporarily stopped after the Geneva Conference on Indochinese refugees in 1979. Drawing extensively upon recently declassified files from the National Archives in London and the National Archives in Maryland, the thesis discusses several important themes, for example, international concerns about human rights during the Cold War era, interpretations of humanitarianism, and Hong Kong’s autonomy in the age of decolonization. It argues that Britain exerted its international influence by forcing Hong Kong to be a first asylum for refugees. Hong Kong played an important role in demonstrating Britain’s contribution to resolving the refugee crisis. The colony served as a place for Britain’s proxy humanitarianism. This thesis shows that international expectations of human rights conflicted with local politics in Hong Kong. Unlike studies that stress Hong Kong’s increasing autonomy, this thesis shows that the colonial authorities played a passive role in the refugee crisis, and the British government still had the final say on Hong Kong’s refugee policy. This thesis comprises three chapters. The first chapter investigates the case of two freighters that rescued Vietnamese refugees in 1975 and 1976. The Danish-registered Clara Maersk arrived in Hong Kong on 30 April 1975, marking the beginning of the refugee crisis. As the British and Hong Kong governments were uncertain about the scale of the influx and had different expectations about Britain’s contribution to ending the refugee problem, the Clara Maersk incident triggered heated debates. The incident demonstrates how Britain’s domestic affairs led to the British government’s reluctant assistance to Hong Kong. The Burmese-registered Ava that arrived in Hong Kong on 6 July 1976 with ninety-eight refugees reveals the unclear responsibility for shipwrecked refugees rescued by foreign vessels. The Ava incident shows how Hong Kong’s refugee influx was treated as an American problem. The U.S. government saw Hong Kong’s regional role of strengthening Southeast Asian countries’ involvement in America’s refugee program. The second chapter investigates the second wave of Vietnamese refugees. The deteriorating Sino-Vietnamese relations in 1978 led to an exodus of ethnic Chinese from Vietnam. The Vietnamese government officially permitted the ethnic Chinese to leave in return for payment. This chapter examines the pre-arranged vessels that transported refugees to other countries under collaboration with the Vietnamese authorities. The final chapter focuses on how the British government relieved Hong Kong’s refugee burden as cheaply as possible. On the one hand, the British government wanted to show its contribution to resolving the refugee crisis by maintaining Hong Kong’s humanitarian policy. On the other hand, it did not want to take the Vietnamese refugees because of Britain’s own immigration problems. By initiating an international conference on Indochinese refugees, the British government internationalized the refugee problem and minimized its responsibility for the crisis. / published_or_final_version / History / Master / Master of Philosophy