What refugee crisis?
History highlights periods in which there were far greater numbers of refugees than are found today. Immediately following the Second World War tens of millions of people were without homes, land or country. That crisis was met and dealt with in pragmatic yet humane ways. Indeed, Australia profited greatly from settling many refugees at that time. The international refugee regime was built from that experience. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees is now 50 years old. The crisis today is not principally one of numbers. Today’s crisis consists in this, that certain nation states do not carry their share of responsibilities to make the refugee regime work. The crisis today is that wealthy and prosperous states are unwilling to reach out to the refugees or to find solutions at the source of refugee flows. Moreover, the same states on which UNHCR relies to finance its humanitarian work are those very states that are eroding the protection principles on which its work is based. I
