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…
Asylum and human rights Ireland’s deserved reputation for support for peace building and conflict resolution has been recognised by a seat on the UN Security Council. Ireland’s credibility has been further boosted by the recent pledge to reach by 2007,…
Refugee integration means building a new life with dignity, becoming an independent and productive member of society, being able to fend for oneself. It is a process by which refugees increasingly participate in all levels of society and become full…
The region continues to be an area of major refugee flows and, against a backdrop of burgeoning social, economic and ethnic tensions, the issues relating to these population movements are likely to become more complex. The increase in refugee flows…
In Afghanistan nearly one million people are internally displaced. In recent months alone, hundreds of thousands of Afghans have fled fighting, drought and famine. Africa is the most affected continent, hosting approximately half of the world’s internally displaced population. Over…
For the past half century UNHCR has been at the heart of international debates about human rights and international responsibility. In no other UN agency are values and principled ideas so central to the institutional mandate and raison d’etre or…