Commentary on Parekh’s No Refuge

Serena Parekh's book No Refuge is a special work. She weaves sophisticated yet accessible social philosophy with anecdotes from refugees and others impacted by the global refugee system. Parekh distinguishes between two different refugee crises: the first, the arrival of large numbers of asylum seekers at the borders of countries in the Global North, especially Europe; and second, the crisis facing the refugees themselves, in that they are largely able to get refuge no matter where they knock. In so doing, she puts the faces and the dignity of the individuals and communities most harmed by the crises front and center. Parekh argues that Western states have a forward-looking moral obligation to respond to the second crisis differently, by ensuring that folks seeking refuge have the minimum conditions of human dignity, not by simply admitting large numbers of refugees into their territories, but by using their resources to change the conditions under which most refugees are forced to live.