We may see here the juridical and moral ambivalence that affects discussions of the right of asylum and refuge to this day. Are the rights of asylum and refuge “rights” in the sense
of being reciprocal moral obligations which, in some sense or another, are groundeduponourmutualhumanity?Orare these rights claims in the legal sense of being enforceable norms of behavior which individuals and groups can hold each other to and, in particular, force sovereignnation-states tocomplywith? Kant’s construction provides no clear answer.