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The Price of Indifference: Refugees and Humanitarian Action in the New Century (A Council on Foreign Relations Book)

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Every notable disaster of the past century -- war, famine, civil unrest, earthquake and ecological catastrophe -- has resulted in the massive displacement of people within and across borders of their home countries. The June 7, 2002 New York Times reported that 14.9 million civilians were driven from their countries by war alone last year, and an additional 22 million people uprooted within their countries. It is a natural phenomenon in its own right, yet there has never been a systematic or comprehensive approach to anticipate, gather resources (both financial and intellectual) and make available workable solutions to this devastating predicament. This universal lack of foresight has taken its toll on untold numbers of refugees; some of whom waste years of their lives in flight or languish in refugee camps fearing for their safety, struggling for mere survival; while others achieve the relative fortune of starting their lives over in a new environment.

Now, the reader with even a passing interest in the plight of these unfortunate wanderers, and the expert alike, can explore an extraordinary trove of information on refugee policy and a startling new solution to this monumental problem. THE PRICE OF INDIFFERENCE: Refugees and Humanitarian Action in the New Century, by Arthur C. Helton, sets forth a concise modern history of refugee crises and the structural mechanisms and varied policies that have emerged for dealing with them. Helton depicts numerous strategies such as temporary protection, safe havens, asylum, evacuation, humanitarian corridors, resettlement, internal protection and repatriation, explaining why States have chosen some "solutions" over others as well as revealing the lapsed policy of states that have chosen to remain uninvolved. By analyzing diverse crises of the last decade in Bosnia, Cambodia, East Timor, Haiti, Kosovo, and Rwanda, Helton reveals the full array of policy tools and astoundingly problematic realities of managing refugees.

With an uncanny ability to capture the big picture, Helton also evokes vivid, personally observed details of a wide range of specific refugee crises, often in poetic terms. This book gives you the insider's view of what refugees actually experience:

It was a late Sunday evening in November 2000 when our plane landed in Nairobi, Kenya. As I walked on the runway through the sultry air to the airport arrival hall, I became an unintended witness to the conclusion of the infamous journey of the `lost boys of Sudan', some of whom I had visited in 1993 at the Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Kenya. There, a remnant of some 17,000 children had come to rest after fleeing in 1988 from fighting in Sudan to Ethiopia, where they were attacked again after the regime of Mengistu Haile Mariam fell in 1991. This prompted a harrowing 600-mile trek by foot to Kenya, with many dying from attacks by wild animals and exposure.
p. 183.

In Helton's words, "[a]t the outset of the twenty-first century, the policy debate is driven by selective apathy and creeping trepidation." He reveals rationales for employing the various options including political motivations, notions of sovereignty, and practicality, among others. With a comprehensive overview of policy options that have been employed in recent history, their successes and failures, Helton envisions putting an end to such inevitable recurring suffering.

Unsatisfied with unpremeditated, unsystematic and less than ideal solutions that spring, almost ad hoc from crises as they arise, Helton offers a striking proposal for two organizations dedicated to assembling resources and a base of experts to anticipate, prevent and ameliorate future predicaments - one inside the U.S. government, and one internationally-based. While some may bemoan a proposal for new agencies, Helton's suggestion is innovative for the policy underlying these proposed organizations: a vehicle for prevention of mass displacement and for proactive, anticipatory mitigation when prevention is impossible or inappropriate. The new national security and foreign policy agenda he presents reflects his heartfelt and lifelong quest for states, organizations and individuals to view the protection of refugees as an obligation to humanity; an obligation that merits foresight.

Arthur C. Helton, one of the world's top experts on refugees and the migration of displaced persons, is Senior Fellow for Refugee Studies and Preventive Action at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York. He previously directed the Refugee Project of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights for twelve years and has written more than 80 scholarly articles on refugee and migration subjects. Helton's book will educate and fascinate policy makers, statesmen, relief workers, and humanitarians, as well as advocates for refugees and enthusiasts of migration, foreign policy, history, diplomacy, politics, and human rights. This comprehensive volume poses important questions and will undoubtedly take its place among the seminal literature devoted to the topic.

The author of this book, Arthur C. Helton, was killed on August 19, 2003 in the suicide bombing of the United Nations headquarters in Baghdad. Helton was meeting with UN officials at the time of the bombing.

Smallchief

As noted by Arthur Helton, refugees matter. However, they matter not only for humanitarian reasons but also because they are intimately tied to questions of national and strategic interest. By extending the argument beyond the realm of humanitarian charity, Helton effectively makes the case for state intervention in the field and elevates scholarship in the realm of refugee studies.

Moreover, the perspective of The Price of Indifference is a fresh one. Addressing crises from Africa to Afghanistan, Turkey to East Timor and Haiti to the former USSR, his work constitutes a comprehensive account of a decade that was perhaps the most dynamic one in recent memory. And from a discussion of the Cold War models of humanitarian action to the "Mogadishu syndrome" and the CNN effect, Helton covers the prevailing dynamics of all periods. What is more, the book goes so far as to model potential futures depending on which prevailing ideology is adopted (e.g., cooperation or containment).

Not only does the book discuss shortfalls in the national system of humanitarian action (calling for a new separate civilian agency, the Agency for Humanitarian Action), but it also entails a discussion of the international system and its inability to effectively mediate refugee-related crises. In doing so, Helton makes the case for new institutional structures (e.g., the Strategic Humanitarian and Research Entity, or SHARE) which effectively consolidate the fragmented humanitarian components in the UN system.

As we know, the Cold war changed responses to refugee and migration emergencies in fundamental ways. Yet, for all we do know, there is no single answer. Rather, a more varied and comprehensive "policy toolbox" is required. To be helpful, policy needs to be more proactive so that "international coordination" and a "preventive orientation" replace the "selective apathy" and "creeping trepidation" that currently animate refugee responses.

No longer can states hide behind the out-dated Westphalian notion of absolute sovereignty. Rather, certain concerns are obligations erga omnes and the concern of all those within the international community. As a result, a significant attention and backing is given to humanitarian intervention (and its reform).

As Helton notes, recent experience teaches us that expectations should be modest. Yet with a thorough review like the Price of Indifference, one cannot help but hope for a better future for refugees and internally displaced persons worldwide.

The collapse of the Berlin Wall and the symbolic moral victory of American capitalism has been viewed by the US mainstream literature as the onset of a new era; one of global prosperity and peace. Although the end of state socialism has led to the spread of liberal democracy in Eastern Europe, it has also marked the beginning of numerous political and social crises that have precipitated an unprecedented growth of refugees and internally displaced peoples.

Arthur Helton's THE PRICE OF INDIFFERENCE astutely analyzes the emergence of the past decade's refugee crisis and the inability of the international political and legal framework to adequately address it. Using what sociologists call the "extensive field work methodology," Helton not only presents a succinct history of the recent refugee crisis; but also the "refugees' experience" through personal accounts and in-depth interviews with important policy-makers of the international refugee community. The result is an instructive analysis of "what went wrong" and what can be learned from the past, all presented in a style that captivates the interested reader.

As a scholar, legal practitioner and one of the international authorities in the field of migration and refugees, Helton's unique insights and inside resources illuminate the roots of the current crisis. By showing that prior policy responses were the outcome of emergency situations that lacked a systematic understanding of the diverse origins of the contemporary crisis, Helton proposes the creation of two institutions-one inside the US government and the other within international institutions-to anticipate and proactively respond to future refugee emergencies. While this approach is likely to attract the criticism of those who advocate a lesser role of the US government, it is a realistic and feasible solution that takes into consideration the fact that no refugee crisis can be resolved without the cooperation of the US government. At the same time, in order to devise a solution for current and future refugee crises that will be effective and long lasting, US policies must have international legitimacy which can be achieved only through international cooperation.

In sum, THE PRICE OF INDIFFERENCE is a "must" for any specialist in the field of refugee policy and for any person interested in future international policy on displaced peoples. Refugees matter not only because "they are there" or because "it could be me" but because refugees are here to stay and, in the process, how the U.S. helps to shape international policy will profoundly influence the political, ethical, and racial/ethnic future of our future global society.

The collapse of the Berlin Wall and the symbolic moral victory of American capitalism has been viewed by the US mainstream literature as the onset of a new era; one of global prosperity and peace. Although the end of state socialism has led to the spread of liberal democracy in Eastern Europe, it has also marked the beginning of numerous political and social crises that have precipitated an unprecedented growth of refugees and internally displaced peoples.

Arthur Helton's THE PRICE OF INDIFFERENCE astutely analyzes the emergence of the past decade's refugee crisis and the inability of the international political and legal framework to adequately address it. Using what sociologists call the "extensive field work methodology," Helton not only presents a succinct history of the recent refugee crisis; but also the "refugees' experience" through personal accounts and in-depth interviews with important policy-makers of the international refugee community. The result is an instructive analysis of "what went wrong" and what can be learned from the past, all presented in a style that captivates the interested reader.

As a scholar, legal practitioner and one of the international authorities in the field of migration and refugees, Helton's unique insights and inside resources illuminate the roots of the current crisis. By showing that prior policy responses were the outcome of emergency situations that lacked a systematic understanding of the diverse origins of the contemporary crisis, Helton proposes the creation of two institutions-one inside the US government and the other within international institutions-to anticipate and proactively respond to future refugee emergencies. While this approach is likely to attract the criticism of those who advocate a lesser role of the US government, it is a realistic and feasible solution that takes into consideration the fact that no refugee crisis can be resolved without the cooperation of the US government. At the same time, in order to devise a solution for current and future refugee crises that will be effective and long lasting, US policies must have international legitimacy which can be achieved only through international cooperation.

In sum, THE PRICE OF INDIFFERENCE is a "must" for any specialist in the field of refugee policy and for any person interested in future international policy on displaced peoples. Refugees matter not only because "they are there" or because "it could be me" but because refugees are here to stay and, in the process, how the U.S. helps to shape international policy will profoundly influence the political, ethical, and racial/ethnic future of our future global society.