The scale and brutality of 'ethnic cleansing' in Kosovo and the subsequent refugee crisis has taken many by surprise. Kushner suggests that rather than being 'other' to the European experience in the twentieth century, genocide and mass refugee movements have been at its very heart: a challenging corrective to the triumphalism and cult of progress apparent in the western world as it gears up to celebrate the milennium. The failure to confront such disturbing human catastrophes on a political and socio-cultural level has led to serious shortcomings in our practical responses to the victims of extreme intolerance. Kushner argues that only by rediscovering a commitment to asylum and introducing a human rights agenda into international politics before crises occur can we truly honour the memory of those who have suffered oppression in this bloody century.

Asylum Ethnic Albanians Ethnic cleansing Kosovo Refugees Genocide Xenophobia

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