2018 Essay Contest Abstracts – Undergraduate Students

Shortlisted:

Kelsey Rhude, Carleton University

“Rightless, Stateless and Waiting on Beaches: Failures of the International Community in Refugee Prevention and Protection”​

In light of growing numbers of refugees and displaced persons as a result of conflict in Syria, this paper seeks to understand the reasons for ongoing failures of the international community in effectively responding to conflict and in accommodating refugees displaced by conflict. This paper uses a two-pronged approach to address such failures. Firstly, this paper demonstrates the ways in which the international community has failed to implement an effective proactive refugee prevention model. In light of this failure, this paper demonstrates the subsequent failed attempt to implement an effective reactive model to respond appropriately to the needs of refugees. Finally, this paper addresses potential alternatives to the current biopolitical regimes of power and violence in addressing refugee prevention and accommodation.