Expanding Safe Third Countries: A Global Approach to Refugee Protection

Abstract

In recent years, numerous developed states have sought to transfer the responsibility of hosting refugees to developed states through bilateral agreements. Many of these so-called third country policies have been subject to criticism, for failing to adequately protect the rights of refugees. At the same time, there is a growing body of literature that seeks to distribute global responsibility for refugee protection more fairly among the world’s countries. In this thesis, I examine agreements made by Israel, the European Union and Italy, in order to highlight similarities between bilateral agreements, and market-based global burden sharing of refugee protection. I argue that a market-based quota system could act as an expansion of third country policies, leading to a feasible proposal for global refugee burden sharing that is aligned with states interests.