Humanitarian Politics and the Spectre of Illegitimacy. Issue 1 (1st January 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Rieff, David
• Is Part Of: Journal of humanitarian affairs. Volume 1:Issue 1(2019)
• Page Start: 46
• Page End: 48
• Publication Date: 2019-01-01
• Subjects: global order -- humanitarian politics -- independence -- legitimacy -- migration crisis
• DOI: 10.7227/JHA.006
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2515-6411

Abstract

Abstract : The political landscape in which the humanitarian movement took current form has changed radically. If humanitarian certainties have been upended, it is not in Sri Lanka, or even Syria or Afghanistan, but in the NGO response to the migration crisis in Greece and in the Mediterranean. However overstated, the claim of neutrality has always played an important role in establishing the legitimacy humanitarian action has enjoyed in Europe. But it is no longer possible, if it ever was, for relief workers to separate their ethical commitment to helping people in need from their political convictions, including about what the EU should stand for.