Making International Refugee Law Relevant Again: A Proposal for Collectivized and Solution-Oriented Protection

Authors

James C. Hathaway, University of Michigan Law SchoolFollow
R. Alexander Neve, Centre for Refugees Studies of York University

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1997

Abstract

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 political circumstances. For refugees themselves, however, the increasingly marginal relevance of international refugee law has in practice signalled a shift to inferior or illusory protection. It has also imposed intolerable costs on many of the poorest countries, and has involved developed states in practices antithetical to their basic political values.

Recommended Citation

Hathaway, James C. "Making International Refugee Law Relevant Again: A Proposal for Collectivized and Solution-Oriented Protection." R.A.Neve, co-author. Harv. Hum. Rts. J. 10 (1997): 115-211.