Refugees, the State and the Politics of Asylum in Africa
研究非洲国家在1980年代末为何对难民态度转向保守，通过肯尼亚、坦桑尼亚和几内亚案例，揭示政治变化而非难民本身是主因，对理解难民政策制定者有用。
Recent statistics by UNHCR suggest that 15.6 million people, many from and in Africa, are currently refugees, forced to flee from their countries because of persecution. Research has shown us all too vividly the vulnerabilities and problematic conditions these refugees face and the profoundly inadequate responses to their plight at local and global levels. By pushing us to look much more carefully at the politics of refugees and asylum in Africa, Refugees, the State and the Politics of Asylum in Africa adds significantly to the work in this area. Milner sets out to explain why in the late 1980s many African states became more reluctant to host refugees, a trend that contrasts considerably with the more open-door policies in the 1960s. He argues that this shift has little to do with refugees themselves or the perception of the security threat they pose. Instead, broader political changes explain this shift better. These changes include the fact that refugees are no longer fleeing wars of liberation and decolonization but complex civil wars with regional dynamics. Another broad factor is the decline of donor support for long-term refugee assistance. Using Kenya, Tanzania, and Guinea as case studies, Milner argues that given the vulnerable and dependent nature of African states and the deep sense of insecurity among state elites, decisions on how to treat refugees (including whether to grant asylum) are linked to broader political calculations, including the political costs and potential benefits of granting asylum.