Despite the importance of refugee resettlement being frequently emphasised, there is only a limited amount of empirical research on why an increasing number and variety of States admit refugees through resettlement, when it is not an obligation under international law. This article first sets out the four traditional perspectives on States’ motives for resettlement, based on well-established theories of International Relations, namely egoistic self-interest, altruistic humanitarianism, reciprocity, and international reputation. After examining the applicability of each of the traditional perspectives in light of past and recent resettlement practice in a deductive manner, the article puts forward a different hypothesis: that States perceive resettlement as an alternative to asylum in terms of migration management, given the recent empirical and discursive trend. While the article by no means suggests that such a perception is a justifiable explanation for States’ motives for resettlement, the perception seems to add a different and relevant hypothesis when tracing the logic behind States’ increasing interest in resettlement.

中文翻译：

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难民安置作为庇护的替代方案

尽管难民重新安置的重要性经常被强调，但关于为什么越来越多的国家通过重新安置接纳难民，而这不是国际法规定的义务，实证研究的数量有限。本文首先基于公认的国际关系理论，即利己主义的利己主义、利他的人道主义、互惠和国际声誉，阐述了关于国家重新安置动机的四种传统观点。文章根据过去和最近的重新安置实践以演绎方式检验了每种传统观点的适用性后，提出了一个不同的假设：各国将重新安置视为移民管理方面的庇护替代方案，鉴于最近的经验和话语趋势。虽然这篇文章绝不表明这种看法是对国家重新安置动机的合理解释，但在追溯各国对重新安置兴趣日益增加的背后逻辑时，这种看法似乎增加了一个不同的相关假设。