Alternative Question #2 for Synthepaper: In light of U.S. ratification of the 1951 Refugee Convention, which obliges us to accept refugees and not return them to any place where they might face the same or similar dangers, should the U.S. change how they currently deal with refugees and/or asylum seekers?

4 points to keep in mind...

1.Despite the growing tendency of “rejecting refugees,” global refugee numbers are currently down from a high in the 1990s (19 million to about 9 million today) In line with this, the world-wide number of immigrants has remained fairly consistent since 1960 (rising from 2.5 to 2.9 %), though admittedly the percentage of immigrants in developed, wealthy countries has grown significantly (from 3.4 to 8.7) See

2. Most refugees are NOT destined to resettle in developed northern countries 80-90% remain in their region of origin See the parts of the world where the most refugees, asylum-seekers are located: There are 2-3 times as many IDPs (internally displaced people) as there are refugees (people who cross a border during a conflict)

3. Developing countries like the U.S. spend more money trying to keep refugees out of developed countries than allocating money to a)serve their needs in regional refugee camps See handout from Moorehead book -or- b) help to develop southern countries that are prone to conflict and refugee outflux see site on U.S. foreign aid:

4. There is a risk of double-abuse of the human rights of asylum-seekers held in detention See CBS/60 minutes report “Detention in America” (and read the posts!) html?tag=contentMain;contentBody