A basic understanding to the international law of refugees

1. International
Law of
Refugees
Part I: Zainabou Dabo
Part II: Sarah Tyler
Part III: Scott Reid
Part IV & V: Logan Crider
Credit: Sergey Ponomarev / The New York Times

2. Part I: A Scan of the Current Global Landscape
for The International Law of Refugees
Zainabou Dabo
Refugee: 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)

3. 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.

4. Credit: UNHCR

5. Main Migration Routes
Credit:Matthew Chwastik, National Geographic

6. 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)

7. Aylan Kurdi: A Case Study
Part II: A Brief Case Study
Highlighting the Nature of the
Problem in Practice
Sarah Tyler

8. 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).

9. “The image that sparked a global awareness to the refugee crisis” (Wheatstone)
This is the famous picture of Aylan Kurdi...
Credit: Nilufer Demir

10. 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

11. 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

12. ...Aylan’s story didn’t end (Walsh)
“The scream of the silent body” (Demir; Griggs)
Credit: Nilufer Demir

13. Twitter as a catalyst (Withnall)
3 Million Social media posts
20 Million Image views
53,000 Tweets per hour
#KiyiyaVuranInsanlik (Elsa)

14. Headlines
around the
world
Credit: Time Magazine

15. 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

16. Result of one image:
Public call to
action
Credit: Twitter

17. Result of one image:
Response of State
Leaders
(Laurent;Raghavan)
British prime minister David Cameron
French prime minister Manuel Valls
Italian premier Matteo Renzi

18. 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
Refugees
Scott Reid

19. 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 persecution
2. The UNHCR focuses on State to State, not non-state actors
3. Also lacks a duty on States to provide asylum
4. States has become aware on the limitations of interpretation each State can make on the definition of
refugee(Orchard)

20. 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)

21. 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)

22. 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)

23. 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.

24. Part IV: The Challenges with the Current
State of the Law on International Law of
Refugees
Logan Crider
1. Access to International Protection
2. Jurisdiction
3. Providing Humanitarian Aid
Credit: Guenter Guni / iStock

25. 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)

26. 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)

27. 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

28. 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)

29. Part V: Future Prospects for the International
Law of Refugees
Logan 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

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