2 - Refuge as a Concept and a Place

Summary

This chapter draws an outline how scholars from myriad disciplines (including law, anthropology, political science, history, geography, international relations, philosophy, psychology and economics), UN institutions and refugees approach and understand the notion of refuge. I also highlight the discrepancies between these ideas and the reality. I ask the gender question by exploring what women are seeking when they search for refuge as well as the nature of refuge sought by children and refugees with disabilities. I show that the concept of refuge is a robust one. There are different approaches to theorising refuge, but there is a shared understanding that it has restorative, regenerative and palliative functions that address refugees’ past, present and future. Refuge operates as a response to the particular dilemmas of those in need of protection and is variously expressed as a remedy, right, duty, process and status. It has a broad and flexible scope that responds to the specific needs of women, children and refugees with disabilities. The threshold for adequate refuge is a high one, encompassing much more than mere survival. However, many people who seek protection find themselves in places where the conditions may be comparable to or worse than the places they fled.