Mainstreaming Refugee Rights. The 1951 Refugee Convention and International Human Rights Law

Abstract

The article shows how the 1951 Refugee Convention interacts as a human rights treaty with other human rights treaties, especially considering rights to seek asylum in African and Inter-American regional instruments and non-discrimination rights in the UN Covenants. The article shows that considerable interaction has developed between some rights, such as the expulsion and non-refoulement rights under the 1951 Refugee Convention and the protection from torture under human rights treaties, but that such an interaction is still underdeveloped for economic and social rights. The article considers ways in which present international human rights mechanisms might be adapted to help implement refugee rights and discusses roles for the international human rights treaty bodies and for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.