In this account of Canada’s resettlement program from the Indochinese crisis of the 1970s to the ongoing Syrian crisis, Shauna Labman explores the role that law plays in resettlement and the impact of resettlement on asylum policies. Her pathbreaking work shows that resettlement can either complement or complicate asylum claims at a time when refugee crises and fear of outsiders are causing countries to close their borders to asylum-seekers.

Shauna Labman is a lawyer and associate professor of human rights in the Global College, University of Winnipeg. She started her legal career with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in New Delhi, India which led her to research the interplay between resettlement and asylum. She sits on the Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization of Manitoba’s Board of Directors and, in 2016, she was recognized as one of CBC Manitoba’s Future 40 for her advocacy work with refugees.