International Law of RefugeesPart I: Zainabou Dabo

Part II: Sarah Tyler

Part III: Scott Reid

Part IV & V: Logan Crider Credit: Sergey Ponomarev / The New York Times

Part I: A Scan of the Current Global Landscape for The International Law of RefugeesZainabou DaboRefugee: The 1951 Refugee Convention defines a refugee as-”Any person who owing to well founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular group or political opinion, is outside the country of his/her nationality and is unable or owing to such fear, unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that state, unable to return to it.”(Article 1A(2)-Refugee Convention, Orchard, P)

Overview

21.3 millions of refugees in 2015 (UNHCR).

People displaced mostly as a result of political turmoil (Krishnadev).

11 Millions refugees from Syria alone. (Bixler and Martinez)

Other refugees are from Iraq, South Sudan, Afghanistan and Somalia (Fernandez).

Countries have to deal with influx of refugees.

Credit: UNHCR

Main Migration Routes

Credit:Matthew Chwastik, National Geographic

Rights of Refugees

Non refoulement

Freedom of movement

Right to liberty and security of the person

Right to family life

Other rights

(International Justice Resource Center)

Aylan Kurdi: A Case Study

Part II: A Brief Case Study Highlighting the Nature of the Problem in PracticeSarah Tyler

Syrian Civil War

Over 11 million people

forced out of their homes (Schneider)

400,000 people died as a result of the armed-

conflict (Schneider)

4 ½ year conflict that began with anti-government protesting and escalated into a full civil war between those loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those who oppose him (Schneider).

“The image that sparked a global awareness to the refugee crisis” (Wheatstone)

This is the famous picture of Aylan Kurdi...

Credit: Nilufer Demir

After fleeing Kobani, Alyan was excited for the journey for a new life with his family in Greece but the boat capsized off the coast of Bodrum (Wheatstone; Walsh)

Credit: Associated Press

Alyan’s father, Abdullah, was the only survivor of

the family...

...He returned to Kobani to bury his wife and two sons (Guzel)

Credit: Mehmet Can Meral/AP

...Aylan’s story didn’t end (Walsh)

“The scream of the silent body” (Demir; Griggs)

Credit: Nilufer Demir

Twitter as a catalyst (Withnall)

3 MillionSocial media posts

20 Million

Image views

53,000

Tweets per hour

#KiyiyaVuranInsanlik (Elsa)

Headlines around the

world

Credit: Time Magazine

Result of one image:

Greater awareness of

the global refugee crisis

His picture became a symbol for the refugee crisis (Berenson)

Google Trends: Syrian Refugee Crisis

Millions of image views across the world (Withnall)

Credit: Google Trends

Result of one image:

Public call to action

Credit: Twitter

Result of one image:

Response of State Leaders

(Laurent;Raghavan)

British prime minister David Cameron

French prime minister Manuel Valls

Italian premier Matteo Renzi

Hard Law- Refers to actual binding legal instruments and laws.(International Justice Resource Center)

Soft Law- Normative provisions contained in non-binding texts.(International Justice Resource Center)

Part III: The Current State of International Law on the Crisis of RefugeesScott Reid

Hard Law on Refugees

The 1951 Refugee Convention- Considered the cornerstone of international refugee law. This convention helped to shed more light on the growing problem of refugees and set regulations and the precedent for all international refugee law. In response to this growing problem the convention set up the “UNHCR” or United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (International Justice Resource Center)

UNHCR- “This exists to provide these refugees with international protection. Thus protection is anchored in international law”(Orchard)

-For Refugees to receive protection under the UNHCR, they are evaluated as an individual. Each person must meet certain criteria. Every person must justify the persecution they are attempting to escape.(Orchard))- This has become problematic for many refugees due to-

1. May have a hard time proving persecution2. The UNHCR focuses on State to State, not non-state actors3. Also lacks a duty on States to provide asylum4. States has become aware on the limitations of interpretation each State can make on

the definition of refugee(Orchard)

Legal Protections Provided By International Law

-1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees-1967 Optional Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees-Universal Declaration of Human Rights-(art. 14)-American Declaration of Human Rights and Duties of Man-(art. 27)-American Convention on Human Rights-(art. 22)-Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, Colloquium on International Protection of refugees in Central America, Mexico and Panama (Cartagena Declaration)-African{Banjul} Charter on Human Peoples Rights (art. 12)-OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problem in Africa-Arab Charter on Human Rights(art. 28)-Cairo Declaration on Human Rights in Islam (art. 12)-European Convention on Human Rights (art. 2,3, and 5)-Council Regulation EC No-343/2003 of 18 February 2003-Council Directive 2004/83/EC of April 29 2004-Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (art. 3)-African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa-Convention on the Rights of the Child (art. 22)(International Justice Resource Center)

Soft Law on Refugees

Soft Law on Refugees- The Norms and Customs of each State relating to the acceptance or denial of refugees looking to seek asylum. (Betts)

In 1998 a set of guiding principles on international displacement was created. These guiding principles have become widely accepted by many States.(Orchard)

“In the current political climate,however, most states appear reluctant to commit new formal multilateral agreements in relation to migration”(Betts)

“Although norms existed, No real guidelines were set giving way to state by state account”(Betts)

“Existing literature has stressed how soft law regimes offer advantages over hard-law regimes in that they offer greater flexibility.”(Shaffer)

How Hard and Soft Law have Worked Together and Apart

The 1951 Refugee Convention needs to be updated to include- 1. Refugees due to non-state actors 2. Environmental Change 3. Economic/Food Insecurity 4. Natural Disaster-(Orchard)

-Also the change in refugee policy in Western countries from asylum and resettlement to containment of movement and Humanitarian efforts.(Orchard)-This has lowered the number of refugees under the UNHCR’s protection from in 1992-17.8 million refugees too in 2012-10.5 million refugees.(Orchard)-This however had created a massive rise in internally displaced people or IDP ,which are people who are forced to flee their homes due to armed conflict or any violence. In 2012 there were 28.8 million people internally displaced.(Orchard)-”In situations of conflict the interaction of Hard and Soft law can affect the purported advantages and nature of both”(Shaffer)-Hard law can and does often lead to inconsistencies and conflict among norms, while Soft law may elaborate off existing hard law and be used to undermine it.( Shaffer)

Steps to legally becoming a Refugee-UNHCRs view 1.Must first meet and interview with a UNHCR official so they can confirm the status of the individual and see if they indeed fit the criteria and definition of a Refugee.

2.They are encouraged to bring all types of evidence towards to the official so they can have an easier time proving they are indeed in need of UNHCRs protection-Country Reports-NGO Reports-News Articles-Affidavits-In Person Testimony

3. The individual must then pass through many different background checks to then even put up for resettlement which could then take a very long time after already spending much time getting to this point.

Part IV: The Challenges with the Current State of the Law on International Law of RefugeesLogan Crider

1. Access to International Protection2. Jurisdiction3. Providing Humanitarian Aid

Credit: Guenter Guni / iStock

Access to International Protection➔ Originated with different -- if not opposing -- understandings of the

notion of international responsibility among richer and poorer States (Guzel, Monnet & Moreno-Lax)◆ Northern Countries

● Usually deny responsibility of refugees who do not arrive “directly” at their borders and present themselves “without delay” to relative authorities (Guzel, Monnet & Moreno-Lax)

● Responsibility is restrictive - thus shifting away responsibility has multiplied throughout the decades (Guzel, Monnet & Moreno-Lax)

➔ Developed countries introducing net of extraterritorial measures aimed at controlling migration (Guzel, Monnet & Moreno-Lax)◆ Acting on high seas outside national territory waters (Guzel,

Monnet & Moreno-Lax)◆ Settling arguments with other opposing countries placing

responsibility of care on them (Guzel, Monnet & Moreno-Lax)

The Responsibility to Protect

The Issues Raised

➔ At what point does the international community determine that a State has failed to exercise its obligation to protect? Is international intervention warranted? (Stanton Russell)

➔ What threshold must be reached before international military intervention is justified? (Stanton Russell)

Non-Refoulement

➔ Is temporary protection indeed temporary? (Stanton Russell)

➔ When and under what conditions is it morally acceptable for host States to return those to whom they have granted temporary protection? (Stanton Russell)

Jurisdiction• Acts of the contracting States performed, or producing effects, outside their territories can constitute an exercise of jurisdiction (Guzel, Monnet & Moreno-Lux)

• Potentially, the immigrant can generate an obligation to that State before ever crossing its border (Lamey)

• States projecting their actions beyond their territorial boundaries, extraterritoriality does not prevent human rights obligations from being engaged under certain circumstances (Guzel, Monnet & Moreno-Lux)

• Triggers a State taking responsibility (Guzel, Monnet & Moreno-Lux)

Bloomberg

Providing Humanitarian Aid

➔ Humanitarian relief organizations impacted by increasing political sensitivity of governments trying manipulate or exploit it (Ryseck & Johannsen)◆ Work obstructed, staff hassled, etc. (Ryseck & Johannsen)◆ Dependent on host countries and international donor

community (Ryseck & Johannsen)◆ Lack of resettlement authorities to collect the data

themselves (Capps et. al.)➔ Contact persons often change, which limit the organization’s

ability to assist (Ryseck & Johannsen)◆ Impacts registration process and may cause refugee to flee

again (Ryseck & Johannsen)➔ Insufficient financial contributions, organizations may struggle

and ultimately not be able to fund the relief process (Ryseck & Johannsen)◆ Example: UNRWA from Dec. 2000 - 2006 (Ryseck &

Johannsen)

Part V: Future Prospects for the International Law of RefugeesLogan Crider

➔ States being unwilling or unable to help (Orchard)◆ Extreme cases may deliberately displace its own populations

(Orchard)➔ More accepting view adopted by major countries to allow other to

follow suit ➔ Nations becoming skeptical of humanitarian efforts

◆ Spies, meddling in their affairs, etc.➔ Structure humanitarian programs to cater to country’s

advantages➔ Defining what point States fail to take responsibility and when

intervention is required

Works CitedAsylum & the Rights of Refugees." International Justice Resource Center. N.p., 20 Sept. 2016. Web. 03 Dec. 2016.

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United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. "UNHCR Stories from Syrian Refugees." UNHCR Stories from Syrian Refugees. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Dec. 2016. (Google)

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Works Cited