Case Study: Guided Ethical Study On Refugees

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Guided Ethical Study – Refugees Hannah Barnes

Asylum seekers are people who have fled their country of origin because it is not safe for them to become of their political views, religious beliefs and race for fear of persecution. Refugees are asylum seekers who have been officially recognised and been granted a refugee status. 65.3 million people have been ‘forcibly displaced’ from their home country as a result of violent activity in the year of 2015 (UNHCR, 2015). This question is an ethical matter because it discusses the treatment of people, right or wrongs and morality. Therefore, because ethics is a branch of philosophy, ‘Are we morally obliged to help refugees?’ is a philosophical question.

Utilitarians would believe that we are …show more content…

International conflicts are not the doings of innocent men, women and children. The strongest argument within the refugee debate is that human life is far more valuable than any negatives of assisting refugees. As a country that is able to provide for these people, whose alternative is most likely death, it is a priority to preserve their life and do anything we can to help them survive. I, therefore conclude that displaying compassion, humanity and empathy to fellow humans is far more important than seeking my personal gain. Other positions may believe that we should not accept asylum seekers because they are 'illegals' or 'queue jumpers.’ This argument is unsound because, under international law, anybody is allowed to seek asylum. In circumstances where a person fears for their safety due to beliefs or race, and a safe country has the ability to assist them, they should do so, whether the person is an asylum seeker or not. In wake of the recent terrorist attacks and mass shootings, many believe that the greater refugees accepted into Australia, the more we are opening our borders to an Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) attack. This idea that shutting the border to refugees will increase safety is foolish. Although the majority of refugees worldwide are Muslim, less than 0.0002% of Americans killed since 9/11 were killed by Muslims (Omar Alnatour,

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