Law and Policy Developments

The international legal framework protecting refugees rests on the 1951 UN Convention Related to the Status of Refugees. Negotiated in Europe in the aftermath of World War II, it was largely a product of the wartime experience of displacement and emerging Cold War concerns.

This law and policy must be constantly adapted and reinterpreted to respond to challenges unforeseen by the negotiators who drafted the Convention. This intepretation is not free from the international political environment in which it occurs. Since the end of the Cold War, refugees have lost their status as political trophies and are increasingly seen as threats to the economic and physical security of states. In this context, states are attempting to redefine the international legal framework relating to refugees.

At the same time, their are positive developments. An increasingly broad body of human rights law extends its protections to refugees as well as citizens. And there is an increasing international concensus around the need to develop standards relating to the treatment of the internally displaced.

International Refugee Rights Initiative Publications Relating to Law and Policy Developments:

"World Refugee Survey: How Has Africa Scored in 2008?" Refugee Rights
News, Volume 4, Issue 5, July 2008.

"Civil Society Organisations call on new AU leadership to prioritise peace and human security, gender parity and strengthening AU organs," February 2, 2008.

"Country to sit on AU Peace, Security Council," Times of Zambia, January 31, 2008.

"Europe and Africa Chart the Way Forward" Refugee Rights
News, Volume 4, Issue 1, January 2008.

Material Support: Eroding asylum in the United States," Refugee Rights
News, Volume 3, Issue 2, July 2006.

"Using African Mechanisms to Promote the Rights of Refugees,"Refugee Rights News, Volume 3, Issue 2, July 2006.

"World Refugee Survey: How does Africa score?" Refugee Rights News, Volume 3, Issue 2, July 2006.

"Expanding the Responsibility to Protect the Displaced?"Refugee Rights News, Volume 3, Issue 2, July 2006.

"Perspectives on Refoulement in Africa," Presentation to the Canadian Council for Refugees in Toronto, June 2006.

"Building Safer Organizations: A Reponse to Sexual Abuse and Exploitation?," Refugee Rights News, Volume 3, Issue 1, February 2006.

"Internal Flight in Sudan: UNHCR Issues New Policy Guidance," Refugee Rights News, Volume 3, Issue 1, February 2006.

International Refugee Rights Initiative Joint Press Release with the Sudan Organisation Against Torture and the Khartoum Center for Human Rights and Environmental Development Calling for an End to Harassment of NGOs Working with the AU, January 23, 2006.

Statement on the participation of NGOs on the occasion of the 6th Ordinary Session of the African Union Assembly.

Resolution of the NGO Forum

"Abandoned at Europe’s Door," Refugee Rights News, Volume 2, Issue 4. November 2005.

"AU Protocol on Women Enters Into Force," Refugee Rights News, Volume 2, Issue 4. November 2005.

"CERD Evaluates State Practice on Refugees,"Refugee Rights News, Volume 2, Issue 3, September 2005.

"Returns from Europe – An issue for African refugee advocates?" Refugee Rights News, Volume 2, Issue 3, September 2005.

"Taking on the UNHCR on Status Determination, " Refugee Rights News, Volume 2, Issue 3, September 2005.

"UNHCR Begins Annual Meeting in Geneva," Refugee Rights News, Volume 2, Issue 3, September 2005.

"High Hopes for New High Commissioner for Refugees," Refugee Rights News, Volume 2, Issue 2, July 2005.

"World Refugee Survey Country Grades: A new tool for refugee advocates," Refugee Rights News, Volume 2, Issue 2, July 2005.

"Failing the Internally Displaced? Analyzing the International Response," Refugee Rights News, Volume 2, Issue 1, May 2005.

"Searching for the Next High Commissioner," Refugee Rights News, Volume 2, Issue 1, May 2005.

"The International Conference on the Great Lakes: new hope for refugees?" Refugee Rights News, Volume 1, Issue 2, December 2004.

"Finally a Rapporteur for Refugees in Africa," Refugee Rights News, Volume 1, Issue 1, October 2004.