A Refugee's Right to Citizenship

This paper discusses the extent of duties that are morally owed to refugees in ethical immigration practices. I begin by explaining the humanitarian account often used to ground obligations to refugees and present this approach's limitations. After rejecting this inadequate method, I draw from Rebecca Buxton's writing on the connection between membership and the claimability of basic rights as well as Felix Bender's work on political standing and public autonomy. The original breakdown of membership between an individual and their state, which gives rise to refugeehood, must be remedied through citizenship. I morally justify the duty to provide refugees with citizenship by discussing Kantian ethics and the nature of basic rights. My argument demonstrates that the moral obligations owed to refugees must be determined through a political approach, addressing their broken-down membership in their country of origin, and the loss of basic rights that come with it.