Spreading the 'burden'? : A review of policies to disperse asylum seekers and refugees

Europe's changing position in the global refugee system has brought many more asylum seekers to the continent than was previously the case.

Many of these people have chosen to settle in particular towns and cities, either near their port of entry or near communities of people from their own country.

Politicians, the media and the public have perceived this concentration of asylum seekers as a "problem" and have demanded that the "burden" be spread more evenly.

As a result, European governments are now engaging in one of the largest exercises in social engineering that the continent has seen since World War II.

Hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers and refugees in Europe are now being denied their basic right to choose where they live and are instead being compulsorily dispersed.

This topical work outlines the expressed rationale for dispersal policies, reviews how such policies have been implemented in three European countries (the UK, Netherlands and Sweden), identifies good practice and, finally, challenges the need for dispersal. The book should be suitable reading for national and local policy makers, those interested in human rights, social policy and refugee studies, as well as human geographers and sociologists.