Immigration Law Commons^™

Who Should Watch Over Refugee Law?, James C. Hathaway

Articles

We simply cannot afford to sell out the future of refugee protection in a hasty bid to establish something that looks, more or less, like an oversight mechanism for the Refugee Convention.

The Causal Nexus In International Refugee Law, James C. Hathaway

Articles

For all of its value as a critical mechanism of human rights protection, international refugee law is not an all-encompassing remedy. In at least two ways, the category of persons of concern to refugee law is significantly more narrow than the universe of victims of human rights abuse. First, only persons able somehow to leave their own country can be refugees. Alienage is a requirement for refugee status because of concerns about the limits of international resources and the potential for responsibility-shifting, as well as in recognition of the fundamental constraints which sovereignty still places on meaningful intervention by the …

Temporary Protection Of Refugees: Threat Or Solution?, James C. Hathaway

Book Chapters

While many of us in the refugee protection community have traditionally seen temporary protection as something to be resisted, I believe that temporary protection could, in contrast, be a profoundly important part of a solution to the international refugee protection crisis. To make my argument that the right kind of temporary protection could be an important means to give new life to international refugee protection, I will briefly address three issues. First, I would like to suggest why it is that states around the world, in the North and increasingly in the South as well, are refusing the live up …

Framing Refugee Protection In The New World Disorder, James C. Hathaway, Colin J. Harvey

Articles

A number of jurisdictions have fastened onto a "solution" that appears to reconcile respect for refugee law with the determination of states to rid themselves quickly of potentially violent asylum seekers. Courts in these states have been persuaded that a person who has committed or facilitated acts of violence may lawfully be denied a refugee status hearing under a clause of the Refugee Convention that authorizes the automatic exclusion of persons whom the government reasonably believes are international or extraditable criminals. Refugee law so interpreted is reconcilable with even fairly blunt measures for the exclusion of violent asylum seekers. In …

Why Supervise The Refugee Convention?, James C. Hathaway

Articles

The Refugee Convention is the only major human rights treaty that is not externally supervised. Under all of the other key UN human rights accords — on the rights of women and children, against torture and racial discrimination, and to promote civil and political, as well as economic, social, and cultural rights — there is at least some effort made to ensure that States are held accountable for what they have signed onto.

Interpretation Of The Definition Of 'Refugee' Under Art. 1(A)(2) Of The Convention Relating To The Status Of Refugees, With A View To The Elaboration Of A Community Instrument To Guide The Application Of The Refugee Convention Pursuant To Art.63(1)(C) Of The Treaty Of The European Communities, James C. Hathaway

Other Publications

In approaching the task of recommending how to structure a Directive on common minimum standards for the recognition ofrefugee status in the Member States of the European Union, I have struggled to avoid two extremes. On the one hand, my recommendations might simply have reflected a search for the common denominator of relevant practice. The risk of this sort of analysis is, of course, that it clearly promotes a "race to the bottom," in which those States which presently fully implement their international obligations are encouraged to reduce the standard of protection. The alternative extreme would have been to define …

Reinterpreting Palestinian Refugee Rights Under International Law, And A Framework For Durable Solutions, Susan M. Akram

Faculty Scholarship

Background

The paper presented here is based on a much larger brief produced by two experts in international refugee law, Susan Akram and Guy Goodwin-Gill assisted by a team of law students at Boston University. Both the larger brief and the paper presented here argue for a re-interpretation of the current international refugee law which adequately expresses the principle of heightened protection for Palestinian refugees, a principle which had guided the drafting and consequent approval of international law and UN resolutions.

The author argues that the current lack of legal protection of Palestinian refugees derives from the misinterpretation of the …

Refugee Rights Are Not Negotiable, James C. Hathaway, Anne K. Cusick

Articles

America's troubled relationship with international law, in particular human rights law, is well documented. In many cases, the United States simply will not agree to be bound by international human rights treaties. For example, the United States has yet to ratify even such fundamental agreements as the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women, and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. When the United States does agree to become a party to an international human rights treaty, it has often sought to condition its acceptance …

Foreword To Amicus Brief On The Status Of Palestinian Refugees Under International Refugee Law, Guy Goodwin-Gill, Susan M. Akram

Faculty Scholarship

Palestinian refugees have a status that is unique under international refugee law. Unlike any other group or category of refugees in the world, Palestinians are singled out for exceptional treatment in the major international legal instruments which govern the rights and obligations of states towards refugees: the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol; the Statute of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees; and, specifically with regard to the Palestinians, the Regulations governing the mandate of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East. Almost all states …

International Refugee Law: The Michigan Guidelines On The Internal Protection Alternative, James C. Hathaway

Articles

International refugee law is designed only to provide a back-up source of protection to seriously at-risk persons. Its purpose is not to displace the primary rule that individuals should look to their state of nationality for protection, but simply to provide a safety net in the event a state fails to meet its basic protective responsibilities.1 As observed by the Supreme Court of Canada, "[t]he international community was meant to be a forum of second resort for the persecuted, a 'surrogate,' approachable upon the failure of local protection. The rationale upon which international refugee law rests is not simply the …

The Michigan Guidelines On The Internal Protection Alternative

Michigan Journal of International Law

In many jurisdictions around the world, 'internal flight' or 'internal relocation' rules are increasingly relied upon to deny refugee status to persons at risk of persecution for a Convention reason in part, but not all, of their country of origin. In this, as in so many areas of refugee law and policy, the viability of a universal commitment to protection is challenged by divergence in state practice. These Guidelines seek to define the ways in which international refugee law should inform what the authors believe is more accurately described as the 'internal protection alternative.' It is the product of collective …

The Right To Return Under International Law Following Mass Dislocation: The Bosnia Precedent?, Eric Rosand

Michigan Journal of International Law

On the night of May 2, 1997, some twenty-five abandoned Serb houses were set on fire in the Croat-controlled municipality of Drvar, part of the Muslim-Croat Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was clear from all the circumstances that Croats organized the arson of houses in Drvar to obstruct the return of the original Serb residents to the area. Croat authorities then made a concerted effort to resettle displaced Croats in Drvar in order to solidify a stretch of "ethnically-pure" territory adjacent to the Republic of Croatia. These displaced Bosnian Serbs are just a few of the estimated 2.3 million …

The State And The Post-Cold War Refugee Regime: New Models, New Questions, Julie Mertus

Michigan Journal of International Law

The thesis of this essay is that within the refugee regime the move away from states and adherence to states are two sides of the same coin. To some degree the new refugee regime reflects the trend away from both the state and strict notions of sovereignty. Nonetheless, the new regime also exposes the staying power of the statist paradigm. In many respects, the role of states has indeed been altered, but states have retained their role as important and often essential actors. While other observers have commented on specific geographic or thematic changes in the refugee regime, this essay …

Can International Refugee Law Be Made Relevant Again?, James C. Hathaway

Articles

Ironic though it may seem, I believe that the present breakdown in the authority of international refugee law is attributable to its failure explicitly to accommodate the reasonable preoccupations of governments in the countries to which refugees flee. International refugee law is part of a system of state self-regulation. It will therefore be respected only to the extent that receiving states believe that it fairly reconciles humanitarian objectives to their national interests. In contrast, refugee law arbitrarily assigns full legal responsibility for protection to whatever state asylum-seekers are able to reach. It is a peremptory regime. Apart from the right …

Throwing Away The Key: Limits On The Plenary Power?, Richard A. Boswell

Michigan Journal of International Law

Review of From Welcomed Exiles to Illegal Immigrants: Cuban Migration to the U.S., 1959-1995 by Felix Masud-Piloto and The Abandoned Ones: The Imprisonment and Uprising of the Marial Boat People by Mark S. Hamm.

Making International Refugee Law Relevant Again: A Proposal For Collectivized And Solution-Oriented Protection, James C. Hathaway, R. Alexander Neve

Articles

International refugee law is in crisis. Even as armed conflict and human rights abuse continue to force individuals and groups to flee their home countries, many governments are withdrawing from the legal duty to provide refugees with the protection they require. While governments proclaim a willingness to assist refugees as a matter of political discretion or humanitarian goodwill, they appear committed to a pattern of defensive strategies designed to avoid international legal responsibility toward involuntary migrants. Some see this shift away from a legal paradigm of refugee protection as a source for enhanced operational flexibility in the face of changed …

Irreconcilable Differences? Divorcing Regugee Protections From Human Rights Norms, Karen Musalo

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article will discuss in greater detail the profound defects of the Court's Zacarias decision. Section I will discuss the interpretation of key provisions of the 1980 Refugee Act, and describe the case of Jairo Elias Zacarias. Section II will review the plain language and legislative intent of the Act, including the congressional purpose of conforming to the 1967 Protocol. Section III will consider issues of burden of proof, and will examine the substantive impact which Zacarias has had on refugee cases. Section IV will focus on religious persecution as a paradigm of the inadequacy of an intent-based requirement and …

The Haitian Refugee Crisis: A Quest For Human Rights, Thomas David Jones

Michigan Journal of International Law

On June 14, 1993, the Vienna Conference on Human Rights, sponsored by the United Nations, commenced its opening session mired in controversy over the validity of a universal human rights doctrine. Many Third World or developing nations contended that Western norms of justice and fairness were not applicable to their societies. Thus, the developing nations articulated a culture-bound or relativistic concept of fundamental human rights. The developing nations' particularistic position was championed by such nations as China, Iran, Cuba, and Vietnam, signatories to the Bangkok Declaration of 1993. The Bangkok Declaration provides, inter alia, that though human rights are …

State-Centered Refugee Law: From Resettlement To Containment, T. Alexander Aleinikoff

Michigan Journal of International Law

This paper will explore the international regime of refugee law, seeking to show how legal "solutions" to the "refugee problem" are profoundly state-centered. I will argue that discussions of "solutions" in refugee law and policy have taken a dramatic turn in recent years, replacing an exilic bias with a source-control bias. This new orientation focuses attention on countries of origin, supporting repatriation and human rights monitoring before and after return. I suggest that the shift in emphasis, albeit grounded in part in humanitarian concerns, presents real risks when realized within a system committed to the protection of human rights …

Sanctuary: The New Underground Railroad, Daniel M. Brinks

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Sanctuary: The New Underground Railroad by Renny Golden and Michael McConnell

Studying Immigration: A Border Crossed, Lynda S. Zengerle

Michigan Law Review

A Review of Immigration: Process and Policy by Thomas Alexander Aleinikoff and David A. Martin

A Commentary On American Legal Scholarship Concerning The Admission Of Migrants, James A.R. Nafziger

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The following essay will focus attention on American legal scholarship concerning the admission of migrants. This topic is instructive and practical because of its impact on both municipal and global law. An eminent international jurist observed that greater foresight by scholars twenty-five years ago could have averted many current problems of migration. Today, these problems arise from such sources as the population explosion, periodic droughts, the pull factor of opportunities in advanced economies, and massive political unrest in the Horn of Africa, Afghanistan, Southeast Asia, Central America, and elsewhere. Migrants are knocking at the gates of sovereignty, even crashing some …

Political Asylum In The Federal Republic Of Germany And The Republic Of France: Lessons For The United States, T. Alexander Aleinikoff

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The recent flood of asylum claims, and the concerns it engenders, are not peculiar to the United States. Western European nations have witnessed similar increases in asylum applications over the past decade, .and institutions charged with adjudicating claims have become severely overburdened. This Article will describe the experience of the Federal Republic of Germany and the Republic of France in coping with the explosion of asylum claims. A comparative analysis may provide perspective on the American situation and perhaps suggest - or rule out - proposals for change currently under consideration in the United States. To appreciate the saliency of …

Political Asylum Under The 1980 Refugee Act: An Unfulfilled Promise, Arthur C. Helton

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Part I of this Article reviews the history and development of asylum law in the United States which culminated in the passage of the Refugee Act of 1980. It analyzes the failure of the responsible administrative authorities to follow the dictates of the law - a circumstance which prompted the passage of the Act and which now threatens to subvert the right to asylum in the United States. Part II considers the impact on asylum seekers of new alien interdiction and detention programs, and the legality of those programs under domestic and international law. Finally, Part III makes specific recommendations, …

Victims Of Natural Disasters In U.S. Refugee Law And Policy, Janet L. Parker

Michigan Journal of International Law

This note reviews the history and antecedents of subsection 203(a)(7)(B), suggests explanations for its repeal, and explores alternative relief for the individuals who might formerly have benefited from it. It is presumed that some victims of natural disasters have a need for refuge equal to that of the refugee fleeing persecution. This is not to say that every "catastrophic natural calamity," as the now defunct statutory formulation put it, produces victims requiring the extraordinary relief of asylum. Yet, when the disaster constitutes a continuing threat to human life, and aid to the stricken area cannot restore an acceptable standard of …

The Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act And The Pursued Refugee: Lessons From Letelier V. Chile, Michael E. Tigar

Michigan Journal of International Law

The pursuit of refugees into countries of exile is no new phenomenon. The political tumults of mid-19th century Europe sent countless people fleeing the vengeance of victorious reactionary governments. England was a popular gathering spot, having determined that it would not extradite for political offenses. England had, to some refugee leaders, an "old-established reputation ... as the safest asylum for refugees of all parties and of all countries," despite sporadic efforts to enforce statutory authority for the expulsion of aliens whose presence was embarrassing. The exiles in London found themselves hounded by the secret police of their countries, operating apparently …

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 …

International Human Rights Forums: A Means Of Recourse For Refugees, Amy Young-Anawaty

Michigan Journal of International Law

This article explores the possibility of using some of the other international agreements to secure the rights of asylum seekers. These treaties belong to the relatively new body of international law- human rights law- which gives broad protection to individuals everywhere regardless of status. In a significant development for international law, 12 institutions and procedures have been established internationally and regionally to monitor the enforcement of these human rights agreements. Several of these institutions, by virtue of treaty or statute, even possess the competence to hear complaints about states' violations of human rights. Insofar as the claims of refugees fall …

Exiting From The Soviet Union: Emigrés Or Refugees?, Zvi Gitelman

Michigan Journal of International Law

One of the most dramatic developments in the Soviet Union during the past decade has been the mass emigration of citizens, mostly of Jewish, German, and Armenian nationality. Emigration from the USSR had not been permitted, except for a tiny handful, since the early 1920s, although in the aftermath of World War II several hundred thousand Soviet citizens managed to remain in the West. These were either prisoners of war, slave laborers, Nazi collaborators, or simply people who took advantage of wartime chaos to flee the Soviet Union. But between 1971 and the end of 1980, over 300,000 Soviet citizens …

The Refugee Act Of 1980: Its Past And Future, David A. Martin

Michigan Journal of International Law

Offered here is a description of the key provisions of the Refugee Act, suggesting why they took the shape they did and outlining the major difficulties that remain in crafting and sustaining effective refugee and asylum policies.