Rethinking the right to belong in a neoliberal world: privatization of security in refugee camps and detention centres

Abstract

The thesis revolves around the question of whether state and non-state actors’ responses to the refugee crises are restricting the rights of refugees by introducing privatization of security. The thesis studies the experiences of refugees in offshore immigration detention centres of Australia and the UN operated refugee camps, which are highly privatized or are in a process of privatization. The thesis rests on the theoretical framework provided by Hannah Arendt which explains why human rights are failing refugees in this context, and how they remain meaningless until the 'right to have rights' is incorporated as a basic right. The thesis argues that privatization of security is harmful and results in increased human rights violations and that the private military and security companies are a way of delegating as well as deflecting responsibility that state actors and non-state actors have towards refugees. The thesis also raises the possibility of private resettlement programs as one of the solutions to ensure the right of belongingness is translated practically by giving refugees a community.