Resettlement

Abstract

Abstract This chapter describes and critiques refugee resettlement, ostensibly a ‘durable solution’ to displacement. Contemporary resettlement is practised mainly by high-income liberal democracies of the Global North, the same States that reluctantly receive asylum seekers coming mainly from the Global South. This tension between asylum and resettlement explains many of the features of contemporary resettlement practices, whereby asylum is governed through law and resettlement is usually framed as a matter of discretion. To reveal and explore this tension between asylum and resettlement, and examine resettlement’s shifting and problematic role in refugee protection, the chanoteppter surveys its historical development. It then looks at three key aspects of contemporary practice, namely its relationship with sovereignty, its decision-making processes, and how States treat resettled refugees.