Rejecting Refugees

Reviews / Votes

'Rejecting Refugees intelligently weaves together the experiences of asylum seekers with a detailed examination of refugee status determination in the US and UK to reveal the current state of political asylum. This is both a well-written introduction to the problems faced by refugees seeking protection and a valuable account of how asylum must be reformed if it is to conform to the values Western states claim to represent.' - Matthew J. Gibney, Elizabeth Colson Lecturer & Reader in Politics and Forced Migration, University of Oxford, UK

'Bohmer and Shuman's declared hope is 'to provide greater self-consciousness of how the system responds to contemporary politics' and to explore 'the disconnect between the ideas of a nation welcoming asylum seekers and our actual practices'...in this aspect they have succeeded. This book is intended to have a broad appeal. It appears to be aimed at those interested in a general sweep of how the issue of asylum is handled in the UK and the US. It is not written in a particularly academic style and is an easy read. Whilst lacking detail in places, it provides helpful vignettes of actual cases, showing how some of the more contentious aspects of a claim - such has credibility findings - are handled by all parties from advisor to judge. The adoption of an inter-disciplinary approach has provided a novel approach on the subject.' - Dallal Stevens, University of Warwick, Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law, Issue 23.2, 2009 'Bohmer and Shuman's declared hope is 'to provide greater self-consciousness of how the system responds to contemporary politics' and to explore 'the disconnect between the ideas of a nation welcoming asylum seekers and our actual practices'...in this aspect they have succeeded. This book is intended to have a broad appeal. It appears to be aimed at those interested in a general sweep of how the issue of asylum is handled in the UK and the US. It is not written in a particularly academic style and is an easy read. Whilst lacking detail in places, it provides helpful vignettes of actual cases, showing how some of the more contentious aspects of a claim - such has credibility findings - are handled by all parties from advisor to judge. The adoption of an inter-disciplinary approach has provided a novel approach on the subject.' - Dallal Stevens, University of Warwick, Journal of Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Law, Issue 23.2, 2009