International Refugee Law: A Reader

Ensuring the humane and rights based treatment of refugees in an increasingly restrictive environment is among the most pressing problems facing the international community today. The subject of international refugee law has, as a consequence, acquired global importance. This unique reader constitutes a comprehensive introduction to international refugee law from an interdisciplinary and third world perspective. It provides not only a detailed analysis of the 1951 UN convention on the status of refugees but covers regional conventions and declarations as well as other issues of topical importance. The book is divided into eight chapters following a comprehensive introduction. The first four deal respectively with the definition of 'refugee'; the law of asylum; the rights and duties of refugees; and the mandate and functions of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the primary international agency concerned with the protection and assistance of asylum-seekers. The next three chapters explore the root causes of refugee flows and the law of state responsibility; durable solutions to the global refugee problem; and the international law of internally displaced persons. The concluding chapter deals with the legal status of refugees in India. Each chapter starts with an introduction which identifies the key issues and themes dealt with in the chapter, and the specific readings that address them. Topical, comprehensive, and bringing together some of the most salient writings on the subject from around the globe, this invaluable book will attract a wide range of readers, particularly those involved in international and refugee law, refugee studies, human rights, migration, and social anthropology, as well as students, policy makers, non-governmental organisations, judges and legal activists.