scholarly journals Refugee Participation Revisited: The Contributions of Refugees to Early International Refugee Law and Policy

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tristan Harley
Keyword(s):  
Primary Source ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
The Status ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
Laws And Policies ◽  
Refugee Experience ◽  
International Status

Abstract This article challenges the assumption that until relatively recently refugees or persons with lived refugee experience have not been involved in the development of international refugee law and policy. By drawing on primary source material – including the preparatory work for international legal instruments such as the 1933 Convention relating to the International Status of Refugees and the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, along with the operational work of the League of Nations, the International Refugee Organization and the early years of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – this article argues that refugees and persons with lived refugee experience exercised significant influence and thought-leadership in the development of international refugee law and policymaking during the foundational years between 1921 and 1955. These contributions to the development of international refugee law and policy are significant because they not only reorient our understanding of the ways in which international law and policy pertaining to refugees has been developed and negotiated to date, but also because they provide a practical example of how refugees can more meaningfully be included in the creation of laws and policies that affect them going forward.

The Supervision (or Not) of the 1969 OAU Refugee Convention

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 261-289
Author(s):  
Marina Sharpe
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
African Unity ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
The Status ◽  
Organization Of African Unity ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
Principal Elements ◽  
African Commission

Abstract This article covers the supervision of the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa (1969 Convention). It begins by defining treaty supervision and describing key understandings of it in the international refugee law literature. These are then harnessed to create a model of supervision (the Supervisory Model) to frame the ensuing discussion. How the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees is supervised is presented within this Supervisory Model, by way of background. The article then moves on to its principal focus, beginning with an overview of the calls for, and claims regarding, supervision of the 1969 Convention. The need for supervision is then established based on two principal elements. First, the 1969 Convention’s incomplete implementation in States parties to the treaty, in both refugee status determination and in relation to rights guaranteed by the instrument. Secondly, existing bodies with quasi-supervisory or supervisory mandates – the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – are not effectively redressing such implementation deficiencies. With the need for supervision established, a new supervisory mechanism is proposed and the procedural options to create it are outlined.

scholarly journals The door behind the bamboo curtain - Chinese law and policy on refugee status

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lili Song
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Chinese Law ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
The Status ◽  
Definition Of

<p>This thesis systematically considers the law and policy on refugee status in the People’s Republic of China. It considers relevant Chinese legal provisions, applicable bilateral and multinational treaties, as well as China’s refugee policy and practice. It also presents and analyses first-hand information collected through interviews with refugees and aid workers.  China is an emerging destination of refugees and other displaced foreigners. Although China is a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, Chinese law contains no provisions governing the definition of a refugee or the determination of refugee status. Further, there is a gap between the criteria for asylum in the 1982 Chinese Constitution and the criteria for refugee status in the 1951 Convention.  In practice, although the Chinese government has generally allowed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to process individual applications for refugee status, the Chinese government has practically performed the function of refugee status determination in large-scale influx situations through policy decisions. In these situations, the security, political, and strategic interests of China have often overshadowed China’s commitment under the 1951 Convention.  China has been cautious about recognising refugees on its territory. However, the Chinese government has clearly demonstrated a growing interest in addressing the issue of refugee recognition within a more formalised framework.  In conclusion, this thesis recommends that China adopt a legal refugee definition in line with the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and develop a predictable and fair national RSD mechanism.</p>

scholarly journals The door behind the bamboo curtain - Chinese law and policy on refugee status

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Lili Song
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Chinese Law ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
The Status ◽  
Definition Of

<p>This thesis systematically considers the law and policy on refugee status in the People’s Republic of China. It considers relevant Chinese legal provisions, applicable bilateral and multinational treaties, as well as China’s refugee policy and practice. It also presents and analyses first-hand information collected through interviews with refugees and aid workers.  China is an emerging destination of refugees and other displaced foreigners. Although China is a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, Chinese law contains no provisions governing the definition of a refugee or the determination of refugee status. Further, there is a gap between the criteria for asylum in the 1982 Chinese Constitution and the criteria for refugee status in the 1951 Convention.  In practice, although the Chinese government has generally allowed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees to process individual applications for refugee status, the Chinese government has practically performed the function of refugee status determination in large-scale influx situations through policy decisions. In these situations, the security, political, and strategic interests of China have often overshadowed China’s commitment under the 1951 Convention.  China has been cautious about recognising refugees on its territory. However, the Chinese government has clearly demonstrated a growing interest in addressing the issue of refugee recognition within a more formalised framework.  In conclusion, this thesis recommends that China adopt a legal refugee definition in line with the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and develop a predictable and fair national RSD mechanism.</p>

Canadian Exclusion Jurisprudence post-Febles

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Molly Joeck
Keyword(s):  
Supreme Court ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
Refugee Protection ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
The Supreme Court ◽  
The Status ◽  
International Refugee Law

Abstract This article examines the state of Canadian refugee law since the decision of the Supreme Court in Febles v Canada (Citizenship and Immigration) [2014] 3 SCR 431. Drawing upon an analysis of a set of decisions of the Immigration and Refugee Board, the administrative tribunal tasked with refugee status determination in Canada, the article seeks to determine whether administrative decision makers are heeding the guidance of Febles when excluding asylum seekers from refugee protection on the basis of serious criminality pursuant to article 1F(b) of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. In doing so, it examines the controversy around article 1F(b) since its inception across various jurisdictions and amongst academic commentators, situating Febles within that controversy in order to demonstrate that the Supreme Court’s reluctance to clearly set out the purpose underlying article 1F(b) is in step with a longstanding tendency to understand the provision as serving a gatekeeping function, that prevents criminalized non-citizens from obtaining membership in our society. It argues that by omitting to set out a clear and principled standard by which asylum seekers can be excluded from refugee protection pursuant to article 1F(b), the Supreme Court failed to live up to a thick understanding of the rule of law. It concludes by calling for a reassertion of the rule of law into exclusion decision making, both nationally and internationally, in order to ensure that the legitimacy of the international refugee law regime is maintained.

Part II Sources, Ch.10 The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Milner James ◽  
Ramasubramanyam Jay
Keyword(s):  
United Nations ◽  
The Political ◽  
Voluntary Contributions ◽  
Refugee Convention ◽  
United Nations High Commissioner ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
The United Nations ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
Over Time

This chapter addresses the role played by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the making and implementation of international refugee law. It begins by considering UNHCR’s mandate responsibilities and operational functions to better understand the structures that condition the scope of UNHCR’s engagement with the functioning of international law. While UNHCR’s 1950 Statute and the Refugee Convention both mandate UNHCR to serve particular functions, such as its supervisory responsibility relating to the Refugee Convention, its Statute also places particular constraints on UNHCR, especially in terms of the scope of its activities and its reliance on voluntary contributions from States to perform its mandated functions. The chapter then looks at how the roles UNHCR has played in the making and implementation of refugee law at the global, regional, and national levels, through its operations, and how these functions have evolved over time. By illustrating the various instances where UNHCR has demonstrated power, along with those instances where UNHCR has exhibited pathologies and has been constrained by the interests of States, the chapter points to the importance of understanding international refugee law within the political environment in which it functions.

scholarly journals ‘Quota Refugees’: The Dutch Contribution to Global ‘Burden Sharing’ by Means of Resettlement of Refugees

2011 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marjoleine Zieck
Keyword(s):  
Second World War ◽  
Analytical Tool ◽  
Burden Sharing ◽  
Global Burden ◽  
Geographical Proximity ◽  
World War ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
High Commissioner ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
Second World

The international refugee law regime that was created in the wake of the Second World War does not comprise distributive principles as a result of which geographical proximity functions as the primary distributive mechanism. Consequently, the distribution of refugees is unevenly shared among states, understandably giving rise to calls for burden sharing. Rather than states, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (hereafter: UNHCR) is charged with resettlement of refugees and it depends on the discretion of (too few) states to offer resettlement places. One of those states is the Netherlands, which has set an annual quota of 500 refugees (including their relatives) for resettlement. Dutch practice with respect to its ‘quota refugees’ appears to be illustrative of the current use of ‘resettlement’ as neither a form of burden sharing nor necessarily a durable solution for the problem of refugees. It invites to revisit the solution of ‘resettlement’ against the background of legal developments, state and UNHCR practice, using fuzzy logic as an analytical tool.

Part I International Refugee Law— Reflections on the Scholarly Field, Ch.4 Queering International Refugee Law

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ferreira Nuno ◽  
Danisi Carmelo
Keyword(s):  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
Asylum Law ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Legal Frameworks ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Relations Of Power

This chapter investigates the links between asylum law and policy and sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI). Although human rights have been increasingly recognized irrespective of one’s SOGI at international, regional, and domestic levels, legal frameworks do not yet tackle violations of such rights effectively. As a result, members of SOGI minorities may be forced to flee their countries of origin, often making SOGI-based asylum claims in host countries. Since the inception of the Refugee Convention, there has been a continuous battle for recognition of SOGI claims within a system that was not designed with SOGI minorities in mind. The chapter thus explores key aspects of SOGI asylum that ultimately question the heteronormative relations of power in asylum law and highlights how legal and policy frameworks may be reformed. It considers how refugee law has been progressively queered, looking at the range of legal and policy instruments that play a role in this queering process. Finally, the chapter identifies the key actors that have contributed to the development of SOGI refugee law and assesses the specific needs of SOGI asylum claimants and refugees.

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