Refugee law

Refugee law is the branch of international law which deals with the rights and protection of refugees. It is related to, but distinct from, international human rights law and international humanitarian law, which deal respectively with human rights in general, and the conduct of war in particular.

Sources of refugee law

Refugee law encompasses both customary law, peremptory norms, and international legal instruments. The only international instrument is the UN Convention, with an optional Protocol, while various regional bodies have instruments applying only to member states. The instruments include:

• the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees

• modified by the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees[1], which a country has to have signed separately

• the 1966 Bangkok Principles on Status and Treatment of Refugees[2] adopted at the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee in 1966.
• the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa[3]
• the 1984 Cartagena Declaration on Refugees[4] for Latin America
• the 1976 Council of Europe's Recommendation 773 (1976) on the Situation of de facto Refugees[5]
• the 2004 European Union's Council Directive on minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals and stateless persons as refugees or as persons who otherwise need international protection and content of the protection granted[6]

Under international law, refugees are individuals who:

• are outside their country of nationality or habitual residence;
• have a well-founded fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion; and
• are unable or unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution.

See also

• Right of asylum
• Refugee
• Refugee roulette
• Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts Project (RULAC)

External links

• Program in Refugee and Asylum Law Comprehensive program for the study of international and comparative refugee law at the University of Michigan Law School.
• Refugee Caselaw Site Searchable electronic repository of case law documents relating to the legal definition of refugee status under the 1951 Convention.
• Refugee Law Reader.
• Refugee Law Project (RLP) A leading Ugandan organisation producing research and analysis on refugee issues
• Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts Project
• U.S. settles lawsuit by rejected refugee claimant CBC news.
• Refugees and International Law Forum: Papers Documents and other resources related to refugee and human rights law.