REFUGEE PROTECTION AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY: LOOKING BACK - LOOKING FORWARD: Statement by Ms. Erika Feller, Director, Department of International Protection to the 50th Session of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner's Programme (7 October 1999)

1999 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 72-79
Keyword(s):  
Executive Committee ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
International Protection ◽  
Refugee Protection ◽  
Looking Back

scholarly journals The Right to Dignity of Refugees: A Response to Fleur Johns

AJIL Unbound ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 193-195
Author(s):  
Elspeth Guild
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Organizations ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Protection ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
Refugee Protection ◽  
Mass Migration ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Right

Fleur Johns' thesis about the increasing role of data in the verification of the condition of the world and how this impacts on international law is stimulating and bears reflection. This is an extremely interesting and innovative approach to the issue of data and its role in state engagement with mass migration. From the perspective of a scholar on international refugee law, a number of issues arise as a result of the analysis. One of the contested aspects of mass migration and refugee protection is the inherent inconsistency between two ways of thinking about human rights—the first is the duty of (some) international organizations to protect human rights in a manner which elides human rights and humanitarian law, and the second is the right of the individual to dignity, the basis of all human rights according to the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1949. The first enhances the claims of states to sovereign right to control their borders (mediated through some international organizations), while the second recognizes the international human rights duties of states and international organizations to respect the dignity of people as individuals (including refugees). Fleur is completely correct that human rights abuses are at the core of refugee movements. While there are always many people in a country who will stay and fight human rights abuses even when this results in their sacrifice, others will flee danger trying to get themselves and their families to places of safety; we are not all heroes. Yet, when people flee in more than very small numbers, state authorities have a tendency to begin the language of mass migration. The right to be a refugee becomes buried under the threat of mass migration to the detriment of international obligations. Insofar as mass migration is a matter for management, the right of a refugee is an individual right to international protection which states have bound themselves to offer.

scholarly journals UNHCR and Current Challenges in International Refugee Protection

Refuge ◽  
2004 ◽  
pp. 6-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ninette Kelley ◽  
Jean-Francois Durieux
Keyword(s):  
International Protection ◽  
Multilateral Cooperation ◽  
Refugee Protection ◽  
Durable Solutions ◽  
Do So

The international refugee protection regime has had both a successful and a troubled history. It has succeeded in providing international protection to millions of refugees when their own States have been unable or unwilling to do so. Despite this considerable achievement, the regime has at times failed to solve serious refugee protection problems and has not been able to effect durable solutions for many of the world’s refugees. This essay examines the current challenges to the regime from the perspectives of those most affected by them, recognizing that many of these challenges are not new. It examines how UNHCR’s mandate and activities have expanded to meet the larger number and diverse needs of those under its care. As well, it reviews the recent initiatives launched by UNHCR to strengthen international protection for refugees and expand the availability of durable solutions through enhanced multilateral cooperation.

Part V The Scope of Refugee Protection, Ch.47 Internal Displacement

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kälin Walter
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Internal Displacement ◽  
Soft Law ◽  
International Protection ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Refugee Protection ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
Durable Solutions ◽  
Degree Of Convergence

This chapter discusses the protection of internally displaced persons (IDPs), who are all too often neglected, not only by their governments, but also by the international community. The experiences of refugees and IDPs have much in common. Thus, it is not surprising that social science approaches tend to lump refugees and IDPs together under the notion of ‘forced displacement’. By contrast, the chapter argues that refugee law and the law related to internal displacement are conceptually fundamentally different because IDPs remain citizens or habitual residents of their countries, and thus depend on the national protection of their governments, while refugees as foreigners are in need of international protection. Discussing the protection of IDPs from a comparative perspective, it analyses the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement and their impact as a soft law instrument, as well as the legally binding Kampala Convention. Ultimately, IDP-related approaches to durable solutions can help to inform refugee law and policy, and there is already a degree of convergence between the two areas.

scholarly journals Unintended Consequences of Adjacency Claims

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 620-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Bradley
Keyword(s):  
Unintended Consequences ◽  
Internally Displaced Persons ◽  
Displaced Persons ◽  
International Protection ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Refugee Protection ◽  
Governance Arrangements ◽  
The Way

Abstract This article examines the role of adjacency claims in the development of a norm for the international protection of internally displaced persons (IDP s). Consistent with existing scholarship on adjacency claims, the construction of analogies between refugee protection and IDP protection was instrumental in garnering broad international acceptance of the IDP protection norm. However, these same analogies had an impact beyond the abstract acceptance of the norm. They were used to justify the expansion of the mandate of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) to encompass IDP s, and they shaped the way UNHCR understands and implements IDP protection. UNHCR replicated its policy approach from refugees to IDP s, generating a dysfunctional approach to IDP protection. Therefore, adjacency claims can have an effect beyond garnering support for new norms, and may result in suboptimal governance arrangements for implementing those norms.

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