Do refugees have a duty to be grateful to their host society? In a new article, Dr Rebecca Buxton (University of Bristol / RSC alum) and Professor Matthew Gibney (RSC) argue that “when the workings of the system of refugee protection are examined, it becomes clear that no such duty exists. Our main concern is that state-imposed barriers and hardships that refugees must endure to access asylum undermine any gratitude to the asylum state.” They conclude that “resentment rather than gratitude often seems a more apt response by refugees to their asylum state”.
The article is published in Political Studies, at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00323217241238124