International Refugee Research Articles

Syrian Crisis Impacts on the International Refugee Education Fund in Jordan

This research evaluates the impacts of the international organizations’ fund on urban Syrian refugees’ educational environment in Jordan. It combines a mixed method theoretical and technical approach to answering the question of the research: what are the impacts of the international agencies’ resilience programmatic response on the refugee educational challenges induced by the Syrian crisis? The findings revealed that the donors have improved school buildings and enhanced the educational environment in terms of academic performance, sense of belonging, safety, and success. The results also show a high correlation between the spatial distribution of projects and the concentration of noncamp Syrian refugees in Jordan. The results revealed that schools and neighboring communities were not fully engaged in decision-making which left a gap in fulfilling the social and cultural needs. This research can be used as an assessment tool of refugee educational strategies especially when promoting education in host-sensitive conflict regions.

Refugees in the Imperial Order of Things: Citizen, Subject, and Polish Refugees in Africa (1942–50)

Examining the case of some nineteen thousand Polish refugees in British colonial Africa, this article challenges the Eurocentric historiography of the post–World War II international refugee regime. These Poles, after being hosted by the colonial governments first, eventually came under the mandate of emerging UN refugee organizations that treated Europeans as internationally recognized refugees everywhere in the world. In contrast, fleeing Africans (and Asians) did not fit this category. This distinction had more to do with imperialism and race than with any geographic limitation. Conceptually, the refugee regime rests on the differentiation of refugees and national citizens, while imperial rule differentiated between European citizens and colonized subjects. I want to complicate this by emphasizing that the international refugee regime emerged in a largely imperial world signified by a tripartition into citizen, subject, and European refugee.

기후난민의 인권 보호 — 강제송환금지원칙을 중심으로 —

The global community is facing extreme weather events due to climate change and environmental degradation. There are alarming reports that the number of environmentally displaced persons will increase exponentially. However, there is no internationally agreed terminology or definition regarding people who have left their homes due to environmental reasons. There are differing opinions regarding whether these people are persecuted, and thus can be entitled to a refugee status under the 1951 Refugee Convention. Despite the controversy, international agencies including the UN have proposed ways to protect people displaced from their homes due to environmental reasons via international refugee law and international human rights law. In particular, in 2020, the UN Human Rights Committee in Ioane Teitiota v. New Zealand case adopted the view that people must not be sent back to countries where there is a real risk of irreparable harm to their right to life upon return to their home countries, including torture, ill-treatment and other serious human rights violations, which will trigger the the obligation of non-refoulement on States. This decision is hailed as a landmark decision that opens up the road to protect people whose life is threatened due to climate change. Although UNHRC’s decision is not binding in nature, it has indeed influenced courts in other countries including the Italian Supreme Court and Bordeaux Court of Appeals. Climate change and environmental crisis is no longer a localized issue, and is happening simultaneously all around the world. Korea is no exception. Despite the fact that Korea is also a signatory to the Paris Agreement, 1951 Refugee Convention and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, there have been little discussion on this topic. The UN Human Rights Council has recently recognized that having a clean, healthy and sustainable environment is a human right. Against this backdrop, Korea, as a responsible member of the international community that upholds human rights must start drawing up policies to accommodate environmentally displaced persons.

Saving Brown Women from Brown Men? “Refugee Women”, Gender and the Racialised Politics of Protection

Abstract White feminist scholarship in the Global North has drawn attention to the challenges facing women seeking protection under international refugee law (IRL). Whilst these efforts have improved outcomes for some women, they have largely failed to reconfigure the ways in which gendered experiences of persecution are conceptualised and represented. Drawing on postcolonial feminist scholarship, this article suggests that white feminist scholars have been largely complicit in a script that essentialises the experiences of women originating from the Global South. Where gender is taken into account, women from the Global South are typically understood and represented through a neo-imperial frame as disempowered, helpless “victims”, or as “Exotic Others” who need to be rescued from their “backward” cultures. The framing of “Refugee Women” as a homogenous and undifferentiated category ignores the complex intersections of race and gender shaping both women’s experiences and the racialised politics of protection. Moreover, because white feminist approaches have a colonial “blind spot”, they ignore the ways in which the international refugee regime is deeply entangled with the history of colonialism. In so doing, they replicate and reinforce racialised representations of Black and Muslim men as perpetrators of violence against women.

Implications and opportunities of the international refugee protection regime for national human rights institutions in Africa

The upsurge in the global numbers of refugees and asylum seekers since 2015 and the resultant protection failures witnessed particularly in Europe led to renewed debates on the need to reform the refugee protection regime to identify pathways that would enhance protection. Key in these debates was the need to identify actors that could enhance the refugee protection regime, including accountability for failures to protect. Among such actors identified are national human rights institutions. This article situates NHRIs within the nexus between international human rights law and international refugee law to frame an understanding of their role in the refugee protection regime. It then considers the evolution of the international refugee protection regime in light of the emergence of NHRIs and critically reviews their positioning with reference to the mandate of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and the Global Compacts on Refugees and Migration. Specific opportunities at the African regional level are subsequently discussed to support the assertion that NHRIs can perform a specific role in promoting the effective implementation of refugee rights, including as avenues for state accountability.

Ending Exclusion from Refugee Protection and Advancing International Justice

In any utopic vision of the international refugee protection regime at least these two conditions ought to prevail: (1) all those who are genuinely in need of refugee protection will be granted international protection; (2) all those who are responsible for criminality, especially, serious international crimes, shall be held criminally liable. This presumes that the so-called “exclusion clauses” of the 1951 Refugee Convention, Article 1F, and those found in the regional refugee rights instruments (1969 OAU Convention, 1984 Cartagena Declaration, 2011 EU Qualifications Directive) are not required. No one would be excluded from refugee protection who meets the definition of refugee as found in these international refugee rights instruments. By the same token, anyone who is responsible for serious criminality, especially, serious international crimes, (as defined by the 1998 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court) shall be held criminally liable. This serves the ideal of bringing an end to impunity for serious international criminality and ensuring everyone is held accountable for their contribution for the persecution of others. Accordingly, the first part of this article presents the thesis that serious criminality should be part of the inclusionary portions of the definition of who is a refugee and not its exclusionary portions, Article 1F of the 1951 Refugee Convention. Indeed, Article 1F, it is argued, is antiquated and no longer conforms to contemporary international norms and principles and can result in injustices to refugee applicants. Given the inherent complexity and difficulties with Article 1F and the fact it is no longer required, it can be repealed and Article 1A(2), the definition of who is a refugee, can be amended to not include anyone who is responsible for the commission of serious criminality. Moreover, when there is sufficiently reliable and trustworthy evidence that a refugee applicant is responsible for serious criminality then they can be prosecuted and by doing so both ending impunity for serious international crimes and advancing international justice can be achieved. The second part of the article is a commentary on the first part and raises a word of caution. The thesis of this part is that before adopting any radical solution with respect to the exclusion clause, it would be useful to provide a broader context to the issues raised. The commentary raises some questions regarding the underlying assumptions in the first part, specifically, in its examination of the human rights and international criminal justice framework. These questions are on three levels, namely conceptual, legal, and practical. The commentary concludes with some overarching observations in respect to the criticisms raised and the proposal submitted.

The Concept of “Persecution” in Refugee Law: Indeterminacy, Context-sensitivity, and the Quest for a Principled Approach

Introduction In explaining to us the object and purpose of this workshop, Jean-Pierre Cavaille has posited that the notion of persecution suffers from a “woeful lack of definition”. If this were unconditionally true, then international refugee law would be in jeopardy. It would be in jeopardy, because the concept of “persecution” is central to the universal refugee definition laid down by the 1951 Geneva Convention (GC). Indeed, Article 1A GC defines the refugee as someone who has a well-foun...

The Development of Asylum Law in Turkey Within the Framework of the European Union's Harmonization Process

The impact of the European Union (EU) on international policy in Turkey is already regarded as minimal because of the absence of genuine membership prospects. Nevertheless, the approval by Turkey of the asylum laws in the past that fulfills virtually all of the EU's requirements speaks to the continued impact of the EU throughout this policy position. Most of our web-based study's academic scholars believed EU membership to be a key element in the passage of the bill. The conversations with Turkish State officials, as well as the European Commission, show how the EU affected the drafting process. This study discusses the influence and development of Europeanization on policy structures in Turkey within the asylum and refugee policy framework. It looks at the effect of Europeanization on the transition of Turkish pre-accession to the EU. Also, it explores how Turkey carries out its duties at the policy level in relation to an international refugee protection framework as well as asylum seekers harmonization.

Ethnographic Approaches and International Refugee Law

AbstractInternational refugee law permeates a plethora of international, national and local arenas and is developed, interpreted and applied by a wide range of very different actors. In this diversity of contexts, how do we best study the role and place of this body of law? This article advocates for the application of ethnographic approaches in the study of international refugee law, where the positivist legal approach heavily dominates the field. It argues that ethnography’s contribution to knowledge on international refugee law lies not only in its methods, but also in its perspectives on questions of power, knowledge, reflexivity and subjectivity. The article illustrates the value of the ethnographic approach through three vignettes focusing on (i) the concept of ‘refugee’; (ii) refugee rights-claiming and rights-mobilization; and (iii) actors and processes in the creation and spread of international refugee law norms.

Central Asian States’ Compliance with International Refugee and Human Rights Law

Central Asian States’ Compliance with International Refugee and Human Rights Law

Rethinking the Postwar International Migration Regime from the Global South: Venezuela in a Global History of White Immigration

AbstractBetween 1947 and early 1952, the International Refugee Organization (IRO), which was established within the framework of the United Nations to “solve” the so-called European refugee problem after the end of the Second World War, resettled one million European refugees—victims of Nazism as well as East European refugees who escaped the Red Army—all over the world. The IRO's resettlement project is regarded as a blueprint for the establishment of the postwar international migration regime, and it was the predecessor of later initiatives such as the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).In this article I argue that the IRO's history as well as the history of the migration regime after the Second World War has, thus far, mainly been written from the perspective of U.S. American and European history. Northern nations are considered agents in this history, while southern countries are considered as passive “destinations.” In the case of Venezuela, the article argues that the Global South's active role in the migration regime must be taken into consideration to understand postwar migration. From the perspective of a connective approach to global history, it shows how Venezuela, as a political agent, was involved in shaping the migration regime; how it perceived itself as an agent within that regime; and how it intervened on a small scale to shape its form and function.

Forced Migration and Refugee Resettlement in the Long 1940s: An Introduction to Its Connected and Global History

AbstractWhen considering the wave of forced migrations during the Second World War in Europe and Asia, and the international and institutional responses thereof, we can speak about the 1940s as witnessing the birth of a global refugee resettlement regime. Organisations including the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA), the International Refugee Organization (IRO), and eventually the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) placed refugee resettlement at the heart of constructing the postwar world order. This volume adopts a global optic to investigate the formation of this international resettlement regime in Europe and Asia, while also studying refugee camps and movements, agency of refugees and migrants, decision factors for resettlement, and the intellectual production of people on the move. A historicisation of the global resettlement regime of the long 1940s may well carry important political and ethical lessons for us today, if only to remind us of the connected fates of our common humanity, and the responsibilities we therefore bear towards our fellow human beings.

From POW to Cold War DP: A Global Microhistory of Former Yugoslav Soldiers in Occupied Germany, 1946–48

AbstractThere are still many historical blind spots in research on Europe's displaced persons (DPs) after the Second World War. In particular, there are relatively few studies that link microhistorical perspectives on repatriation and resettlement with global contexts. This essay addresses this gap, in empirical as well as methodological terms, by focusing on a group of DPs that hitherto has received little attention from scholars: former members of the Royal Yugoslav Army, whom the Nazis had taken to Germany as prisoners of war (POWs). Classified as DPs after 1945, they lived in camps administered by the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) and the International Refugee Organization (IRO). Under the circumstances, they continued to maintain military-like routines and fiercely refused repatriation. This was partly an expression of loyalty to the exiled Yugoslav king, Peter II. But it also mirrored the fears of DPs about—and resistance to the idea of—being returned to their homeland in the context of the early Cold War. Using the example of a DP camp in Bad Aibling (Upper Bavaria), this article connects Yugoslav DPs, Allied DP politics, and the interests of Tito's government, as well as the interventions of international relief agencies. It shows how some DPs adroitly subverted the international logic of DP self-governance as promoted by UNRRA. A global microhistory approach thus reveals how local actors and sites are shaped by, but also foundationally constitutive of, global regimes of migrational self-governance.

Oceanic cosmopolitanism: the complexity of waiting for future climate refugees

ABSTRACT Waiting may feel like wasted time for people inhabiting small, low-lying, and extremely vulnerable island states as they await rising sea levels. Their homes may soon become uninhabitable due to climate change. The interplay between accelerating natural hazards, an increasing number of climate refugees, and the lack of adequate international refugee protection can prolong their waiting time. Therefore, I examine this experience within the complexity of the waiting framework consisting of existential, legal, and natural waiting. I explore the negative implications of climate refugees’ waiting and how such waiting may be prevented.

Verso una protezione internazionale gender sensitive delle donne vittime di violenza di genere. Riflessioni a partire dall’esperienza afghana

Recently, international refugee law has undergone important gender-sensitive developments that have made it possible to overcome the only apparent neutrality of the 1951 International Convention on the Status of Refugees. Nonetheless, States maintain a standoffish position that does not guarantee certainty in protecting women’s rights. This situation is linked to the fact that international refugee law was created to respond to the needs of a particular context, that of displaced persons of the Second World War. Its original version did not include a gender or sex perspective. In this paper, taking as a starting point the situation of Afghan women after the return of the Taliban to power last August, we will first analyze the gender-sensitive developments in international refugee law. First of all, the possibility of interpreting the elements necessary for granting refugee status in light of the gender perspective will be emphasized. Furthermore, the gaps that still exist, especially regarding the possibility of considering the so-called domestic or private violence as a form of gender-based violence justifying the granting of international protection under the 1951 Convention will be considered. In addition, the paper will propose a test that judges or competent authorities in each country should apply to consider whether the granting of international protection to women victims of gender-based violence would be justified. This test will be constructed in the light of the criteria developed by national and international case law, regarding gender-based violence.

Interwar statistics, colonial demography, and the making of the twentieth-century refugee

AbstractThe historiography of the twentieth-century refugee typically unfolds as a tale of national displacement followed by international surrogate protection. This article challenges that narrative by reframing the modern refugee as an emerging category of statistics and demography. Focusing on the world’s first international refugee survey, which was led by former British colonial administrator John Hope Simpson in 1937–39, the article situates the attempt to count and classify refugees across borders within scientific debates on global population control and white resettlement. While refugees’ mobility initially eluded established parameters of national demographic measurement, Hope Simpson drew on precedents of census work and migration schemes within the British Empire to counter their unpredictability. Revealing how the tenet of colonial demography shaped mid-century views on the ‘refugee problem’, the article broadens the space of refugee history beyond nation states and international institutions and emphasizes the relevance of statistics in turning refugees into a global post-war category.

Non-State Actors of Protection and the Sliding Scale of Protection for Refugee Women

Abstract The article argues that although the gradual recognition of non-State actors as agents of persecution was hailed as a success in ensuring better protection for refugee women at risk of harm from their community or family, the associated development of non-state actors as agents of protection has had a detrimental impact on the protection of refugee women in Europe and more globally. More specifically, the article identifies various everyday practices of reliance on male family members and undefined social networks as actors of protection. These co-constructing practices are exercised by different entities involved in refugee status determination processes, including governments, national and regional courts, and regional and international asylum agencies. Although the trend has gone largely unnoticed, it has resulted in a sliding scale of protection for refugee women. The article argues that endorsing non-State actors of protection, such as male family members and undefined social networks, amounts to a requirement that women seeking asylum take action to avoid being persecuted by placing themselves under the protection of those private actors. This is contrary to international refugee law doctrine, fails to consider the possibility of new forms of harm and is, in itself, a breach of women’s human rights.

Protecting Trafficked Persons through Refugee Protection

This paper critically engages with the long-term protection of trafficked persons. In particular, it assesses whether, and the conditions under which, trafficked persons can be considered as refugees under Article 1A of the Geneva Refugee Convention. The importance of international refugee law in this context is highlighted both by the number of trafficked persons seeking international protection and by its suitability to overcome the shortcomings of existing protection provisions in anti-trafficking instruments, which remain discretionary, conditional, and limited in scope. The paper begins by discussing the relevance of refugee protection for trafficked persons. It then applies the various components of the refugee definition to trafficked persons, focusing on the concepts of persecution and membership of a particular social group. Within these, it focuses on aspects of the debate that are currently missing from the broader literature. This includes the question of whether trafficking qua trafficking meets the threshold of persecution and the value of developments in international law in that regard, the merit of using race as a convention ground in cases of trafficked persons, and the contribution of legislative developments recognizing former victims of trafficked persons as members of a particular social group. It then concludes by highlighting the benefits of refugee protection for trafficked persons and indicating the challenges on the road to that protection.

Open the Doors: Towards Complete Freedom of Movement for Human Rights Defenders in Exile in Uganda

AbstractUganda attracts the highest number of migrants, refugees, and asylum-seekers in the East and Horn of Africa sub-region. Factors including an ‘open door’ policy, relative political stability, and a central geographical location have contributed to Uganda becoming an attractive hub for human rights defenders. The right to freedom of movement is enshrined in all significant human rights treaties and many regional and sub-regional economic treaties, including the one establishing the East African Community. However, in practice many exiled human rights defenders and refugees face various obstacles to move freely.This article explores the scope and meaning of freedom of movement into, within, and out of Uganda. Uganda remains one of, if not the most open country in the region for asylum-seekers, where everyone, including refugees and exiled human rights defenders, may move and settle wherever they choose. However, the majority of human rights defenders struggle to leave Uganda as they usually do not possess a national passport. While Convention Travel Documents, or refugee passports, are provided for under Ugandan and international refugee law, they are elusive in the refugee community and the majority of those interviewed face overwhelming challenges in obtaining one. This leaves many feeling hopeless and not in control of their own future or opportunities, as they are unable to travel within the East African Community, or beyond, for any reason. In particular, women human rights defenders and those who identified as, or advocated for the LGBTIQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer) community, face compounded difficulties when moving within and out of Uganda, including arbitrary restrictions by authorities, violations by private actors, and protection concerns when moving.

Art-based Research on Group Sandplay Therapy for Myanmar Refugee Children Staying in Malaysia

This study is based on the group sandplay therapy that we provided to Burmese Chin children living in Malaysia as ethnic and religious refugees and our analysis of the themes in the children’s sandboxes using an art-based research method. All the participants were Burmese Chin refugee children aged 10 to 13 years old, attending an international refugee school in Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. Participation was voluntary, with written consent from legal guardians. The sample chosen for the study comprised 12 children, with six males in one group and six females in the other group. Altogether, the children took part in five sandplay sessions, which lasted 120 minutes each. During these sessions, all the participants expressed individual the sandtray and then gathered to share and talk about the scenes they had made in the sand. After each session, it construed the children’s sand scenes, imaginative stories and symbolic image from an analytical psychology perspective and categorized the contents by common themes. As a result, six themes emerged: the loss of a place of life, abandoned children, bystanders, safety bases, and liberation/resettlement. Through the sandplay therapy, the refugee children could express their trauma in a safe, supportive environment. Sandplay provided these children with an opportunity to identify their trauma, independently overcome that trauma, and grow.