Blitz, Brad K; (2023) The Wealth of Refugees: How Displaced People Can Build Economies (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021), Alexander Betts, 448 pp., cloth $25.95, eBook $17.99. [Review]. Ethics & International Affairs , 37 (2) pp. 247-249. 10.1017/s0892679423000229.

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Abstract

It is hard to believe that it has been six years since Alexander Betts burst onto the world stage by publishing, with economist Paul Collier, Refuge: Transforming a Broken Refugee System. In that book, Betts and Collier set out to address push factors encouraging out-migration, including a lack of jobs in refugees’ countries of origin. In an effort to address this particular push factor, they emphasized the utility of special economic zones. Refuge—and Betts himself—was criticized by some in the scholarly community for misrepresenting the history of the refugee system. Yet, I would argue, Betts's instincts were not wrong. His concern to find practical ways in which to create progressive refugee policies while recognizing the considerable political constraints should not have been derided and I note that since then international organizations, including the UNHCR, have spent much time exploring how to link humanitarian protection to broader development goals more effectively. In The Wealth of Refugees: How Displaced People Can Build Economies, we find in Betts a more authoritative scholar who is prepared once again to grapple with the evil of dependency, where refugees are made into victims, and through empirical investigation he showcases how it can be mitigated to create sustainable solutions.

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