International Refugee Law, The Library of Essays in International Law

2010 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 685-691
Author(s):  
M. Odello
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
International Refugee Law

On the Legality Under International Law of the Criminalization or Suppression of the Expression of Solidarity to Refugees

2020 ◽  
Vol 114 ◽  
pp. 102-113
Author(s):  
Obiora Chinedu Okafor
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Legal Protection ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
International Refugee Law

As Professor Jastram has noted, in and of itself, international refugee law is not explicit enough on the issue at hand. It is not clear enough in protecting persons who come in aid of, or show solidarity to, refugees or asylum-seekers. That does not mean, however, that no protections exist for them at all in other, if you like, sub-bodies of international law. This presentation focuses on the nature and character of those already existing international legal protections, as well as on any protection gaps that remain and recommendations on how they can be closed. It should be noted though that although the bulk of the presentation focuses on the relevant international legal protection arguments, this presentation begins with a short examination of the nature of the acts of criminalization and suppression at issue.

Part I International Refugee Law— Reflections on the Scholarly Field, Ch.2 Race, Refugees, and International Law

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tendayi Achiume E
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Racial Discrimination ◽  
Race And Ethnicity ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Role Of Religion

The experiences of refugees are heavily mediated by race and ethnicity, and international law plays a significant role in this mediation—in some cases offering important protections, and in others entrenching discrimination and exclusion. This Chapter makes four contributions. First, it articulates a structural and intersectional account of race, racial discrimination and xenophobic discrimination as essential starting points for international legal analysis of race and refugees. This analysis includes the overlap and distinctions between racial and xenophobic discrimination, as well as the role of religion, class and gender in shaping racial discrimination against refugees. Secondly, it reviews the doctrine on race and refugees in international refugee law and international human rights law, and maps the attendant academic literature analyzing this law. Thirdly, the Chapter canvasses legal scholarship that has examined the structure, history and development of the international refugee regime in relation to race. Finally, it concludes with reflections on a research agenda on race and refugees.

Part IV Access to Protection and International Responsibility-Sharing, Ch.29 Smuggling of Migrants and Refugees

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Schloenhardt Andreas
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Law Enforcement ◽  
United Nations ◽  
International Law ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
The Subject ◽  
International Responsibility ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
International Refugee Law

This chapter focuses on the smuggling of migrants in the context of refugee movements, and examines the scope and application of international law pertaining to these phenomena. The principal binding global instrument on this topic is the United Nations Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air which, on the surface, coexists alongside international refugee law in situations where smuggled migrants are seeking asylum. Although the Smuggling of Migrants Protocol expressly recognizes the protection afforded to refugees under international law, its interpretation, operation, and implementation often run into conflict with the Refugee Convention. All too frequently, measures to prevent and combat the smuggling of migrants focus exclusively on law enforcement, criminal justice, and restrictive border measures without recognizing the rights of refugees, asylum seekers, and smuggled migrants, which are the subject of this chapter.

Alternative paths to refugee and asylum seeker protection in Malaysia and Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 132-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Atin Prabandari ◽  
Yunizar Adiputera
Keyword(s):  
Southeast Asia ◽  
International Law ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Asylum Seeker ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
The Other ◽  
Refugee Convention ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
The One

This article explores how refugees in non-signatory countries in Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia and Malaysia, have some protection through alternative paths under international refugee law. These two countries provide forms of protection even if they are not States Parties to the Refugee Convention. These two case studies show that the governance of protection for refugee and asylum seekers is provided through alternative paths, even in the absence of international law and statist processes. These alternative paths offer a degree of meaningful protection, even if this is not tantamount to resettlement. Alternative paths of protection are initiated mainly by non-state actors. The states try to manage alternative protective governance to secure their interests by maintaining their sovereignty, on the one hand, and performing humanitarian duties on the other. In this regard, Indonesia and Malaysia have resorted to meta-governance to balance these two concerns.

Gender and the boundaries of international refugee law: Beyond the category of ‘gender-related asylum claims’

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-397
Author(s):  
Christel Querton
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
General Rule ◽  
Legal Obligation ◽  
Refugee Convention ◽  
General Acceptance ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
Distinct Category ◽  
Treaty Interpretation ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
Human Rights Norms

The adoption of gender guidelines aiming to ensure consistency in gender-sensitive interpretation of the UN Refugee Convention definition demonstrates a general acceptance that gender is relevant to the question of who is a refugee. However, there is evidence that States have failed to adequately undertake the process of gender-sensitive interpretation and implement these guidelines comprehensively. Accordingly, this article argues that the general rule of treaty interpretation in international law enables the identification of a legal obligation of State Parties to the Refugee Convention to take gender into account when interpreting the refugee definition. The precise scope and nature of the duty of States to take gender into account is identified through a dynamic approach to interpretation by reference to international human rights norms. Overall, this article claims that the conceptualisation of a legal obligation in international law to interpret the refugee definition in a way that takes gender into account is inhibited by the development of a distinct category of ‘gender-related asylum claims’ within gender and refugee law scholarship. Consequently, this article presents a challenge to the borders implicit in the category of ‘gender-related asylum claims’ by revisiting the boundaries of international refugee law.

Climate Change-related Displacement of Persons

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane McAdam
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
International Law ◽  
Internal Displacement ◽  
Address Climate Change ◽  
Political Incentives ◽  
International Borders ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

This chapter examines the scope of existing international law to address ‘climate change-related displacement’, a term used to describe movement where the impacts of climate change affect mobility decisions in some way. It looks into the role of international refugee law, human rights law, and the law on statelessness in protecting people displaced by the impacts of climate change. The extent to which international law and international institutions respond to climate change-related movement and displacement depends upon: whether such movement is perceived as voluntary or forced; the nature of the trigger; whether international borders are crossed; the extent to which there are political incentives to characterize movement as linked to climate change or not; and whether movement is driven or aggravated by human factors, such as discrimination. The chapter also considers the extent to which existing principles on internal displacement provide normative and practical guidance.

Operation Sophia in Uncharted Waters: European and International Law Challenges for the eu Naval Mission in the Mediterranean Sea

2016 ◽  
Vol 85 (3) ◽  
pp. 235-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Graham Butler ◽  
Martin Ratcovich
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
International Law ◽  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Union Law ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
Legal Challenges ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
International Refugee Law

This article addresses the main legal challenges facing the European Union (eu) Naval Force, eunavfor Med (‘Operation Sophia’), established in 2015, to disrupt human smuggling and trafficking activities in the Mediterranean Sea. It examines a number of legal issues that have given rise to scepticism on the viability of this type of operation, ranging from challenges under European Union law regarding mandate and oversight, to complex questions of compliance with international law. Forcible measures may be at variance with the international law of the sea, binding on the eu and its Member States alike. Even if such strictures can be avoided by a broad United Nations mandate and/or the consent of the neighbouring government(s), international refugee law and international human rights law provide limitations on the measures that Operation Sophia will be tasked with. Different avenues will be explored to ensure the Operation’s compliance with these different legal regimes.

Part II Sources, Ch.14 National Constitutions and Refugee Protection

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lester Eve
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Law ◽  
Constitutional Law ◽  
Critical Dimension ◽  
Methodological Framework ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Refugee Protection ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter explores how national constitutional frameworks add a critical dimension to refugee protection. Given the variability in the protective value of national constitutions for refugees, it considers how States draw strength from their constitutions in response to refugee movements and why they do so in particular ways. The chapter seeks to elucidate some of the complexities in the relationship between constitutional law and international refugee and human rights law, considering the relevance of constitutional text and context, State perspectives on the place of international law, and the extent to which constitutional law has shaped, and continues to shape, international law. The chapter offers a taxonomy as a methodological framework for differentiating these complexities, which suggests that the relationship between constitutional law and international refugee law might be understood in one of three ways: as symbiotic, ambivalent, or antagonistic. It then applies this framework to three case studies. It suggests that this approach may help us to think more strategically about how to harness the protective possibilities of constitutional law as well as wrestle more productively with constitutional law’s limitations.

Part II Sources, Ch.13 Customary Refugee Law

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lambert Hélène
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Customary Law ◽  
Refugee Convention ◽  
Customary International Law ◽  
Refugee Protection ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
Treaty Law ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
To Receive

This chapter explores customary refugee law. Refugee law is primarily treaty law. However, many of the major refugee-receiving countries are not parties to either the Refugee Convention or the Refugee Protocol, for example Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Iran, Jordan, and Lebanon. Hence, customary international refugee law can be critically important in the identification of key principles of refugee protection and as an indication of what is permitted or not. While customary international law may not play as significant a role in refugee law as it does in other areas of international law, there are at least three practices of refugee protection aimed at safeguarding access and admission to refugee protection for which varying degrees of agreement exist in favour of a rule (or emerging rule) of customary law: non-refoulement, temporary refuge, and the right to be granted (to receive) asylum. These practices are deeply intertwined in their humanitarian purpose.

Refugee Chains

2018 ◽  
pp. 399-409
Author(s):  
Alison Kesby
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
Burden Sharing ◽  
Refugee Convention ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
International Obligations ◽  
The Law ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
A Chain

This chapter uses the object and concept of a chain to examine international refugee law which is shown to be a chain of shifting hue and state of repair. At certain points along its length its interwoven links of gold retain the echo of their humanitarian ideal, and at others its gaps and corrosion come into view, jar, and unsettle. Seen in one light, we see international refugee law as a prized area of international law: the means by which some of the world’s most vulnerable may obtain a recognized legal status and associated rights. In another, its weaknesses become all too apparent, whether the discrepancy between states’ international obligations and their implementation thereof (eg non-refoulement) or the constraints and limits of the Refugee Convention. Issues discussed include the stasis and dynamism of the law, gaps in protection, and ‘burden sharing’ among states.

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