Reluctant Reception
Refugees, Migration and Governance in the Middle East and North Africa

An original, comparative analysis of the politics of asylum seeking and migration in the Middle East and North Africa.

Kelsey P. Norman (Author)

9781108842365, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 12 November 2020

240 pages
24 x 16 x 2.5 cm, 0.92 kg

'This easily accessible volume presents a sophisticated and nuanced theoretical argument and is a major contribution to the literature on migration.' H. Shambayati, Choice

Seeking to understand why host states treat migrants and refugees inclusively, exclusively, or without any direct engagement, Kelsey P. Norman offers this original, comparative analysis of the politics of asylum seeking and migration in the Middle East and North Africa. While current classifications of migrant and refugee engagement in the Global South mistake the absence of formal policy and law for neglect, Reluctant Reception proposes the concept of 'strategic indifference', where states proclaim to be indifferent toward migrants and refugees, thereby inviting international organizations and local NGOs to step in and provide services on the state's behalf. Using the cases of Egypt, Morocco and Turkey to develop her theory of 'strategic indifference', Norman demonstrates how, by allowing migrants and refugees to integrate locally into large informal economies, and by allowing organizations to provide basic services, host countries receive international credibility while only exerting minimal state resources.

1. Introduction: migration in the Global North and South
2. Host state engagement in the Middle East and North Africa
3. Egypt: from strategic indifference to post-revolutionary repression
4. Morocco: from raids and roundups to a new politics of migration
5. Turkey: from strategic indifference to institutionalized control
6. Differential treatment by nationality? Ethnicity, religion, and race
7. The domestic influence of international actors: UNHCR and IOM's role in host state policy outcomes
8. The post-2015 migration paradigm in the Mediterranean
9. Conclusion and avenues forward.

Subject Areas: Non-governmental organizations [NGOs JPWH], Human rights [JPVH], United Nations & UN agencies [JPSN1], Geopolitics [JPSL], International relations [JPS], Migration, immigration & emigration [JFFN], Social discrimination & inequality [JFFJ], Refugees & political asylum [JFFD]