Current interpretation of the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (the ‘Refugee Convention’) presents considerable difficulties for women when their fears of persecution arise out of forms of protest or ill treatment which are not considered ‘political’.…
On 5 December 2000, the UK’s Immigration Appellate Authority (the immigration and asylum tribunal) launched its Asylum Gender Guidelines for use in the determination of asylum appeals in the UK. The guidelines aim to assist judiciary at the Immigration Appellate…
The sexual violence against refugees in Kenya in the 1990s occurred against the backdrop of a huge increase in the refugee population, a shift in its ethnic composition and the rise of ethnicity as the dominant ideological force in Kenya's…
When Hurricane Mitch struck Central America in October 1998, it took the lives of nearly 10,000 people and left over 11,000 missing. It was a ‘super disaster’ causing severe and structural damage to homes, buildings, water and sanitation infrastructure, schools,…
At the UNHCR ExCom meetings in Geneva in 2000, opening remarks from High Commissioner Ogata, Secretary-General Annan and WFP Executive Director Bertini each highlighted concern over the security of humanitarian aid workers. Just a week earlier, directors and senior managers…
In September 2000, the Refugees Studies Centre and the Centre for Child-Focused Anthropological Research of Brunel University hosted an International Consultation on ‘Children in Adversity’ in Oxford.(1) The 110 participants were brought together to share their knowledge, research information and…
How well has the 1951 Convention served the cause of protection of refugees? Is it out of sync with the times? In what ways can the international refugee regime be strengthened to meet contemporary concerns relating to the globalisation of…
It is often said, with justice, that the 1951 Convention is the foundation of refugee protection, the one truly universal instrument setting out the baseline principles on which the international protection of refugees has to be built. These include: Refugees…
Controls on access and differential treatment for some asylum seekers imply, say many critics, that states are attacking refugees and their rights. For many of these critics, the measures adopted by states in the last decade signal a possible end…
The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, updated by the 1967 Protocol, was a step in the evolution of refugee protection. By comparison with earlier instruments, it provided for a broader, if still restricted, refugee definition and for…