Notes on The Global Refugee Regime

Refugees and History

• Core ideas across the topic: Conflict, Persecution, Protection, Hospitality, Mobility, Rights.
• Relationship to the modern regime: how history frames the protection of people who lack the protection of their own state.

Cosmopolitism

• Key concepts: Passport, Global Citizen.
• Philosophical anchor: Immanuel Kant, Perpetual Peace. A philosophical Sketch (1795).

The State: Leviathan

• Theme: The state as sovereign authority over territory and people, drawing on Hobbesian ideas.
• Reference: Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan (1651).
• Note: Transcribed elements such as "Non eat potestas Super Terram" and "ABAPAA" appear garbled in the text but signal classical debates about sovereignty and power.

The Modern Refugee Regime: Origins and Scale

• The modern regime was created to respond to the consequences of World War II in Europe, which left an estimated
  $55{,}000{,}000$ people displaced (Loescher, 2001).
• This regime established institutional pathways for protection and relief that distinguish refugees from other migrants.

Before the Modern Refugee Regime

• Core goal: protecting an individual who has no protection from his/her own state while outside that state; providing humanitarian relief.
• Historical context: late 19th and early 20th centuries: mass flight of ethnic minorities in Europe; decline of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian Empires; Russian Revolution and civil war.
• Early institutions: 1921 League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (LNHCR) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
• 1938: Convention Concerning the Status of Refugees Coming from Germany.

The Modern Regime: Principles and Institutions

• 1946: International Refugee Organization (IRO).
• 1948: Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Art. 14.1.
• 1950: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
• 1950: United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA).
• 1951– Refugee Convention (the 1951 Convention).
• 1967: The Protocol is introduced to amend the 1951 Refugee Convention, removing geographical (universal coverage) and temporal elements (before 1 January 1951).
• Protection regimes in several regions (e.g., Africa, South America).
• 1969: Organization of African Unity (OAU).
• 1984: Cartagena Declaration on Refugees.

Figure 1: The Global Refugee Complex

• The diagram emphasizes overlap and interactions among international regimes:
  • HUMAN RIGHTS REGIME (OHCHR): Human rights treaties (e.g., ECHR) and Complementary Protection.
  • LABOUR MIGRATION REGIME: ILO Conventions; Circular Migration; Partnerships; GATS mode 4; Access to Labour Markets.
  • TRAVEL REGIME: ICAO; IOM; EU Mobility; Partnerships.
  • REFUGEE REGIME: UNHCR; 1951 Convention; Access to Spontaneous Arrival Asylums; IDP; Protection.
  • HUMANITARIAN REGIME: OCHA; Cluster Approach; Regional Conventions; Durable Solutions; Refugee Empowerment.
  • DEVELOPMENT REGIME: World Bank; UNDP.
  • SECURITY REGIME: Peace-building Commission; DPKO; Security Council.
• Note: The intersections illustrate how decisions in adjacent regimes affect refugee outcomes.
• Acronyms (as provided): DPKO, ECHR, GATS, ICAO, IDP, ILO, IOM, OCHA, OHCHR, UNDP, UNRWA, UNHCR.

UDHR (1948)

• The UDHR acts as a global roadmap for freedom and equality protecting rights for every individual, everywhere.
• Adopted on 10 December 1948 in response to wartime atrocities.
• The UDHR outlines 30 rights; foundational to subsequent refugee and asylum protections.
• Article 14: The right to request asylum in another country.
• Article 15: The right to a nationality.

UNHCR

• Founded in 1950 after World War II.
• Mandate: promote international instruments for the protection of refugees, supervise their application, and work with governments.
• Historical note: Post-1945 Europe focused on rapid stabilization and removal of temporary protections.
• Current scale (as given): approximately $20{,}739$ personnel; budget around $8.6\text{ billion}$; operations in 135 countries.

Debates on the UNHCR and Global Governance

• Different national preferences shaped early proposals for UNHCR:
  • United States favored a temporary agency with limited authority.
  • France wanted robust operational capacity and predictable funding.
  • United Kingdom argued that refugees should be the responsibility of host states.
  • India and Pakistan, after Partition (1947), urged a strong and permanent UNHCR with global responsibilities and fundraising capacity.
• Source: Betts and Milner, Governance and the Global Refugee Regime (2019).

1951 Refugee Convention

• Cornerstone of refugee protection.
• Geneva Conference held 2–25 July 1951.
• Provided a systematic and legal definition of a refugee; originally limited to Europeans who fled before 1951.
• Characteristics: individualistic rather than collective; principle of non-refoulement (not returning refugees to danger).
• Current status: 146 countries are party to the 1951 Convention.
• Context: 1947 events relevant to its expansion (India, Pakistan; Palestine; end of the British mandate; UN partition plan; 1948 Israeli independence, 750{,}000 Arabs fled).
• Related: United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) established to address Palestinian refugee needs.

What happened? (Koser, 2008)

• UNHCR concerns: erosion of the concept of asylum and shifts in the international asylum regime.
• The regime evolved through phases: post-war, decolonization, and increasing restrictions on asylum-seekers in the West (e.g., Australia, Europe).
• Current regime characteristics: migration-asylum nexus with less settlement and fewer work permits; increases in asylum seekers; politicization of asylum.
• Proposed directions: stopping human smuggling and trafficking; exploring new opportunities for economic migration.

Durable Solutions

• Repatriation: returning refugees to their home country; questions about what constitutes a home (e.g., Kosovars, Syrians).
• Local integration and settlement in the country of asylum.
• Staying in a neighboring country (e.g., Tanzania, Senegal).
• Permanent residence in a new country (e.g., refugee camps transitioning to Canada).
• Historical examples: 1970–1980 waves (Vietnam, Chile).

Figure 22 | Refugee Resettlement Arrivals (2018–2022)

• Countries highlighted: Canada, United States, Australia, Germany, Sweden, Other resettlement countries.
• Scale (illustrative): 0 to 50,000 arrivals over the period per country/year; data show fluctuations across 2018–2022.

Global Compact on Refugees (2018)

• Context: UN conference on refugees held in Marrakech, Morocco.
• Definition and aim: a framework for more predictable and equitable responsibility-sharing, recognizing that durable solutions require international cooperation.
• Outcome: criticism and challenges; notable opposition from Hungary and the United States.

Loyd Axworthy: A New Response to Refugees

• Background: Loyd Axworthy, former Canadian foreign minister and chair of the World Refugee and Migration Council.
• Key assertion: "Our world suffers not so much from a refugee crisis as a political crisis — a deficit of leadership and vision and, most fundamentally, a shortfall of humanity and empathy." (paraphrased)
• Critique: UN system viewed as broken.
• Call to action: 55 recommendations for action and the building of a coalition of progressive states, civil society, and private entities.

Refugees in the Global South (1)

• The refugee camp is described as the most silent arrangement.
• Work of Michel Agier; distinction between official camps (UNHCR-supported, donor-funded) and unofficial settlements (favelas, bidonvilles).
• Camp dynamics: some camps are temporary; others persist for decades.
• Roles involved: humanitarian organizations and civil society.
• Case of Lebanon: multiple refugee waves (e.g., Palestinians, Syrians); no coherent camp strategy; ongoing insecurity and violence; debates on the role of the State.
• Reference to the film Capernaum (2018) illustrating lived experiences.

Forced Migration in the Global South (2)

• Refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) increasingly found in cities and neighborhoods in countries such as South Africa, Turkey, Thailand, and Morocco.
• Living conditions: mixed—both opportunities (freedom of movement, education) and challenges (housing, work, protection).
• Case study: Sub-Saharan migrants in Tunisia.
• Additional resources: linked YouTube video and Human Rights Watch report on migrants and Black Africans in Tunisia (2023).

Resume / Summary of Key Takeaways

• Distinction: Legal concepts of refugee and asylum seeker originated from 20th-century humanitarian crises; they are not simply migrants.
• The refugee protection regime remains tied to the nation-state and international law, often with rigidity in implementation.
• UNHCR, funding largely voluntary and state-derived, shapes these protections.
• Policy implications:
  • Rethink refugee categories and mobility regimes across borders.
  • Promote labor market integration while ensuring robust protection for individuals.
  • Prioritize action and reform to respond to evolving displacement pressures.
• Practical question: How to operationalize durable solutions given regional dynamics and political constraints?

Key numerical references (for quick recall):

• Displaced due to WWII scale: $55{,}000{,}000$.

• UDHR: $30$ rights; Article 14 (asylum); Article 15 (nationality).

• 146 countries party to the 1951 Convention.

• Palestinian refugees: $750{,}000$ Arabs fled in 1947–1948 period.

• UNHCR scale (personnel): $20{,}739$; budget: $8.6\times 10^{9}$.

• Memoranda and calls for action: 55 recommendations (Axworthy).

• Repatriation and durable solutions illustrated by historical waves (Vietnam, Chile, Kosovars, Syrians).

• Connections to broader themes:

  • Intersections of rights, migration, travel, humanitarian aid, development, and security regimes shape refugee outcomes.
  • The global governance architecture continues to evolve, with new commitments (e.g., the Global Compact) face implementation challenges in diverse political contexts.