The Emergence of New Resettlement Countries: A Human Rights Norm Cascade?

Abstract

Resettlement is the major instrument of protection for vulnerable refugees. Since the first pilot programs in Ireland, Brazil, and Chile in 1998 and 1999, developing countries in Latin America, Europe, and Asia, have launched their own annual resettlement programs, to many observers’ surprise. Does the emergence of new resettlement countries, particularly outside of Western Europe and North America, imply the diffusion of human rights norms? This study explores the motivational factors accounting for the acceptance of resettlement from the perspective of policy diffusion: coercion, competition, learning, and emulation. The results of this study suggest that coercion by the international or regional refugee regimes and competition between countries rather than ideational change regarding human rights norms played primary roles in these cases.