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Scholarship and research submitted to the Forced Migration Research Archive.
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Browsing Research and publications by Author "Abdelaaty, Lamis"
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Item Open Access Refugees and Guesthood in Turkey(2021-09) Abdelaaty, LamisEven as Turkey took in over three million Syrians at great expense, Turkish officials were referring to these individuals as guests rather than refugees. Despite significant legal developments in the country, and particularly the formalization of a temporary protection regime, this choice of labels reveals the influence of underlying political trends on Turkish policy-making regarding refugees. This paper compares Turkey’s reactions to the Syrian inflow with its responses to previous refugee groups, including Iraqis in 1988, Bosnians in 1992, Kosovars in 1998, and Chechens starting 1999. In so doing, it demonstrates that the refusal to designate certain populations as asylum-seekers or refugees enables Turkey to opt in or out of what might otherwise appear to be generally-applicable, national-level policies. Through these strategic semantics, policymakers retain a freedom to maneuver in response to international and domestic political incentives.Item Open Access The Relationship between Human Rights and Refugee Protection: An Empirical Analysis(2021-02-01) Abdelaaty, LamisWhat is the relationship between a government’s respect for the rights of its own citizens and that government’s regard for refugee rights? On one hand, we may expect that a country with high human rights standards will also offer a higher quality of asylum. Domestic laws that protect citizens’ rights may be extended to refugees, for example. On the other hand, there are reasons to theorize that a country with high human rights standards may offer a lower quality of asylum. For instance, governments may claim that protecting citizens’ wellbeing necessitates the rejection of refugees. To explore these questions, I analyse a global dataset drawn from reports by the US Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. I find that the relationship between citizens’ rights and refugee rights is modified by economic conditions and the size of the refugee population. Moreover, some domestic rights (like freedom of movement and labor rights) may increase protections for refugees, while others (like rule of law) may decrease them. Refugees have been largely absent from the literature on the politics of human rights. By systematically examining the relationship between human and refugee rights worldwide, this paper fills an important gap in the scholarly and policy literature.Item Open Access Rivalry, Ethnicity, and Asylum Admissions Worldwide(International Interactions, 2020-11-08) Abdelaaty, LamisWhy do countries welcome some refugees and treat others poorly? Existing explanations suggest that the assistance refugees receive is a reflection of countries’ wealth or compassion. However, statistical analysis of a global dataset on asylum admissions shows that states’ approaches to refugees are shaped by foreign policy and ethnic politics. States admit refugees from adversaries in order to weaken those regimes, but they are reluctant to accept refugees from friendly states. At the same time, policymakers favor refugee groups who share their ethnic identity. Aside from addressing a puzzling real-world phenomenon, this article adds insights to the literature on the politics of migration and asylum.