Displacement, Protection and Responsibility

A Case for Safe Areas

Bibliographic Data

ID12960660
AuthorsRutger Birnie (European University Institute, corresponding author), Jennifer M Welsh (0000-0002-9019-1845, European University Institute, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume10
Issue3
Pages332-361
Publication date2018-05-21
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueGlobal Responsibility to Protect (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1875-984X • E-ISSN: 1875-9858
PublisherBrill (PUBLISHER • NL)
DOI10.1163/1875984x-01003005
OpenAlexW2889063938
LanguageEN
Citations received5

This article makes the normative case for safe areas as a strategy of civilian protection in forced displacement crises. We start from the idea that the displaced—especially those who remain within the borders of their home state—are in a particularly precarious situation which can, in some circumstances, activate a remedial responsibility to provide protection on the part of the international community. We then argue that this responsibility extends beyond the provision of asylum to include efforts both to prevent displacement and to facilitate the return of displaced persons, and that safe areas may be an important tool to achieve these goals. However, we also note two major risks associated with safe areas which must be considered and mitigated: that they increase rather than decrease overall displacement, and that they diminish rather than enhance protection. We conclude by suggesting why and how the shared responsibility to protect through safe areas should be fairly distributed within the international community

Business · Displaced person · Displacement (psychology · Human rights · International community · International law · Law and economics · Normative · Political science · Politics · Refugee · Responsibility to Protect · Sociology · State responsibility · Global Peace and Security Dynamics · International Law and Human Rights · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Psychology

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