Throughout human history people have been driven from their homes by wars, unjust treatment, earthquakes, and hurricanes. The reality of forced migration is not new, nor is awareness of the suffering of the displaced a recent discovery. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees estimates that at the end of 2007 there were 67 million persons in the world who had been forcibly displaced from their homes—including more than 16 million people who had to flee across an international border for fear of being persecuted due to race, religion, nationality, social group, or political opinion.
Driven from Home advances the discussion on how best to protect and assist the growing number of persons who have been forced from their homes and proposes a human rights framework to guide political and policy responses to forced migration. This thought-provoking volume brings together contributors from several disciplines, including international affairs, law, ethics, economics, and theology, to advocate for better responses to protect the global community’s most vulnerable citizens.
Table of Contents
Introduction: Human Rights and New Challenges of Protecting Forced Migrants
David Hollenbach
Part I: New Realities of Protection in a Human Rights Framework
1. Rethinking the International Refugee Regime in Light of Human Rights and the Global Common Good
Susan F. Martin
Part II: Normative Responses: Religion, Human Rights, Gender, and Culture
2. Justice for the Displaced: The Challenge of a Christian Understanding
Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator
3. Human Rights as a Framework for Advocacy on Behalf of the Displaced: The Approach of the Catholic Church
Silvano Tomasi
4. No Easy Road to Freedom: Engendering and Enculturating Forced Migration
M. Brinton Lykes
Part III: Protecting Rights at the Border: Denial of Asylum and Systemic Responses
5. Human Rights as a Challenge to National Policies that Exclude Refugees: Two Case Studies from Southeast Asia
Frank Brennan
6. Loving Humanity While Accepting Real People: A Critique and a Cautious Affirmation of the "Political" in U. S. Asylum and Refugee Law
Daniel Kanstroom
7. Closed Borders, Human Rights, and Democratic Legitimation
Arash Abizadeh
Part IV: Protection in the Face of Conflict and War
8. The Experience of Displacement by Conflict: The Plight of Iraqi Refugees
Maryanne Loughry
9. The Ethics and Policy of War in Light of Displacement
J. Bryan Hehir
10. Reinsterting "Never" into "Never Again": Political Innovations and the Responsibility to Protect
Thomas G. Weiss
Part V: Protection in Response to Economic Need and Environmental Crises
11. Economic and Environmental Displacement: Implications for Durable Solutions
Mary M. DeLorey
12. Refugees or Economic Migrants: Catholic Thought on the Moral Roots of the Distinction
Christopher Llanos
Contributors
Index
Reviews
"Finally the book that matches asking the right hard questions about forced migration with providing profoundly thoughtful, visionary yet pragmatic responses from a range of perspectives. This bold and intellectually honest, clear, and accessible analysis of one of the most pressing moral and political questions of our time is for students and scholars, national and international policymakers, opinion leaders, and ethically engaged citizens everywhere."—Abdullahi A. An-Na`im, Charles Howard Candler Professor of Law, Emory University
"This book brings renewed attention and perspectives to the economic, ethical, and political complexity of assisting those forced to seek lives elsewhere. The effort to blend secular and theological imperatives may not provide solutions to every problem but its offers many of the tools we need to find them."—Loren B. Landau, director, Forced Migration Studies Programme, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
"Driven from Home discusses how the 'duty to protect' refugees should be defined and implemented and how the international community might better fulfill their responsibility to the world's uprooted."—Gil Loescher, University of Oxford
"In this globalized world, too many people are forced to leave their homes, displaced by conflict, disasters, or harsh economic conditions. Systems designed to guarantee their protection are either over-burdened or simply not keeping up. As a result, many are falling through the cracks. This volume raises challenging questions and offers keen insight into expanding our understanding of 'the protection gaps' as we strive to assist some of the most vulnerable people in our world."—Ken Hackett, president, Catholic Relief Services
Contributors
Arash Abizadeh Frank Brennan, SJ Mary M. DeLorey J. Bryan Hehir David Hollenbach, SJ Daniel Kanstroom Christopher Llanos, SJ Maryanne Loughry, RSM M. Brinton Lykes Susan F. Martin Agbonkhianmeghe E. Orobator, SJ Silvano M. Tomasi, CS Thomas G. Weiss
About the Author
David Hollenbach, SJ, is director of the Center for Human Rights and International Justice and holds the Human Rights and International Justice University Chair at Boston College. He is the editor of Refugee Rights: Ethics, Advocacy, and Africa and author of The Global Face of Public Faith: Politics, Human Rights, and Christian Ethics.
