Open borders: A global-humanist approach to the refugee crisis

Abstract

This essay presents a global-humanist approach to assessing, and seeking to ameliorate, the global refugee crisis. Emphasis is placed on the structural roots of the crisis in different forms of violence: inter- and intrastate conflict and underdevelopment. Macro- and microlevel steps to diminish the violence should emphasize expanding recourse to international law and organizations, promoting human rights, and giving the highest priorities to environmental protection and social justice in development assistance to refugees and the Third World states from which most of them have fled.