The determinants of international and state level responses to refugee crises: a comparative analysis of Syria (2011-2016) and Rwanda (1990-1994)

Official URL: http://risc01.sabanciuniv.edu/record=b1649009 (Table of Contents)

This thesis explores the determinants of responses by various actors to massive migration as a result of civil wars. The main claim is that certain characteristics of an armed civil conflict have determining influence on actors’ attitude towards refugee crises that arises with civil wars. The thesis proposes that the characteristics of conflict such as geographical proximity of the conflict, refugee type and profile, the foreign policy positioning of the sender country have a significant impact on the actors’ responses to refugee crises. The international actors are examined in two categories: intergovernmental organizations and NGOs. To explore the behavior pattern of actors, the analysis is conducted through a comparative case study of the refugee crises erupting after the Syrian (2011-present) and Rwandan (1990-1994) civil wars. The goal of analyzing the Syrian and Rwandan conflicts is to understand which factors, present in the Syrian case and absent in the Rwandan, alerted international and state level actors to respond. The general conclusion of the two case analysis is in parallel with the findings of the realist school; states remain to be the main actors of the response to the even humanitarian cases such as refugee flows.