Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 10 of 10
Full-Text Articles in Law
Special Feature Seventh Colloquium On Challenges In International Refugee Law, James C. Hathaway
Special Feature Seventh Colloquium On Challenges In International Refugee Law, James C. Hathaway
Michigan Journal of International Law
Refugee status at international law requires more than demonstration of a risk of being persecuted. Unless the risk faced by an applicant is causally connected to one of five specified attributes – his or her race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion – the claim to be a refugee must fail. Because the drafters of the Refugee Convention believed that the world’s asylum capacity was insufficient to accommodate all those at risk of being persecuted, they opted to confine the class of refugees to persons whose predicament stems from who they are, or what they …
Toward A New Framework For Understanding Political Opinion, Catherine Dauvergne
Toward A New Framework For Understanding Political Opinion, Catherine Dauvergne
Michigan Journal of International Law
This paper was written to frame the work of the Seventh Colloquium on Challenges in International Refugee Law, held at the University of Michigan Faculty of Law, on March 27–29, 2015. To some extent, therefore, it has already served its purpose. It is somewhat tempting in the wake of the Colloquium to completely reconstruct the paper in light of the conversations and conclusions of that event. Such reconstruction, however, would be misleading. Instead, I have chosen to publish the paper in a form that is very similar to its earlier iteration, with a few corrections, clarifications, and explanatory notes about …
Principled Exclusion: A Revised Approach To Article1(F)(A) Of The Refugee Convention, Jennifer Bond
Principled Exclusion: A Revised Approach To Article1(F)(A) Of The Refugee Convention, Jennifer Bond
Michigan Journal of International Law
The focus of this contribution is Article 1(F)(a), a section of the exclusion clause that has increased in both use and profile in recent years. Article 1(F)(a) applies to individuals who may be implicated in crimes against peace (more commonly known today as crimes of aggression), war crimes, or crimes against humanity as such crimes are defined in relevant international instruments. Where a decision maker finds that “there are serious reasons for considering that” an asylum seeker has committed one of these acts, the remainder of the Refugee Convention does not apply, and any protections to which the claimant would …
Protection Elsewhere: The Legal Implications Of Requiring Refugees To Seek Protection In Another State, Michelle Foster
Protection Elsewhere: The Legal Implications Of Requiring Refugees To Seek Protection In Another State, Michelle Foster
Michigan Journal of International Law
This Article first questions the legitimacy of protection elsewhere practices. It then considers the circumstances in which the transfer of refugees might take place. It should be emphasized that the Michigan Guidelines set out the minimum requirements and constraints imposed by international law when a state wishes to implement a protection elsewhere policy. In addition, in some instances the Michigan Guidelines engage in "progressive development" of the law by suggesting safeguards that, while not strictly required by international law, should be respected in order to ensure the implementation of such policies in a way that protects and ensures the rights …
Refugee Protection In International Law: Unhcr's Global Consultations On International Protection, Taylor H. Garrett
Refugee Protection In International Law: Unhcr's Global Consultations On International Protection, Taylor H. Garrett
Michigan Journal of International Law
Review of Refugee Protection in International Law: UNHCR's Global Consultations on International Protection (Erika Feller, Volker Türk & Frances Nicholson eds.)
Entry And Exclusion Of Refugees: The Obligations Of States And The Protection Function Of The Office Of The United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees, Guy S. Goodwin-Gill
Entry And Exclusion Of Refugees: The Obligations Of States And The Protection Function Of The Office Of The United Nations High Commissioner For Refugees, Guy S. Goodwin-Gill
Michigan Journal of International Law
Refugee problems today tend to have one factor in common-the huge numbers of people involved. But whether it is a case of one or of a mass of individuals, each arriving asylum seeker represents a challenge to established principles of state sovereignty. International jurists once wrote of the free movement of persons between nations, unhampered by passport and visa control. Since the late nineteenth century, however, the principle most widely accepted has been that each state retains exclusive control- an absolute discretion- over the admission to its territory of foreign nationals, refugees or not. Although in practice many countries concede …
Between Sovereigns: A Reexamination Of The Refugee's Status, Stephen B. Young
Between Sovereigns: A Reexamination Of The Refugee's Status, Stephen B. Young
Michigan Journal of International Law
A refugee leaves the country of his or her national origin because the political community will not or can no longer vouchsafe the refugee's life, liberty, or peace of mind. In many cases, the sovereign of national origin actively and coercively deprives the refugee of those basic components of human dignity. By taking flight, refugees enter a precarious realm between sovereigns. They may no longer rely upon the solicitude of their native sovereign, yet international law gives them no effective replacement for that power. They gain neither a right to asylum in other countries nor one to the assumption of …
Refugees And Refugee Law In A World In Transition, Atle Grahl-Madsen
Refugees And Refugee Law In A World In Transition, Atle Grahl-Madsen
Michigan Journal of International Law
In country after country a political polarization is growing, a movement away from the center-to the right and to the left. In states with a less than stable political structure, coups d'etat and strongmen are commonplace. International law is broken as a matter of convenience. The media are filled with news of interventions, aggressions, even warfare. Human rights are frequently trodden under foot. And we are faced with a rising wave of xenophobia.
Nordic Refugee Law And Policy, Göran Melander
Nordic Refugee Law And Policy, Göran Melander
Michigan Journal of International Law
Since the end of World War II, the Nordic states have shown an interest in refugee policy and have taken part in work on behalf of refugees through various international organizations. In the 1940s and the 1950s, when Western Europe was faced with a huge refugee problem, the Nordic states shared the burden with countries of first asylum in Central Europe by admitting refugees for permanent resettlement. In the 1960s and 1970s, when other continents were confronted with refugee problems, the Nordic states also generously contributed material assistance to refugees resettled in neighboring countries. In 1979, for instance, the Nordic …
Refugees, Law, And Development In Africa, Peter Nobel
Refugees, Law, And Development In Africa, Peter Nobel
Michigan Journal of International Law
This article concerns those large movements of people in Africa, which have been called the "African refugee problem." However, large and intriguing migrations of populations have occurred in Africa for centuries. The earliest migrations reflected the spread of culture, the growth of trade and the development of roving early kingdoms. The unique history behind the refugee dilemma, however, begins with the instability spawned by slave trading and colonialism. Sensitivity to these eras heightens an understanding of why today's Africa is wrought with economic crises, territorial disputes, unnatural frontiers, misfit ethnic combinations, and more refugees than any other continent. Against this …