JournalTOCs

International Journal of Refugee Law
Journal Prestige (SJR): 0.389

Citation Impact (citeScore): 1
Number of Followers: 39

Hybrid journal (It can contain Open Access articles)
ISSN (Print) 0953-8186 - ISSN (Online) 1464-3715
Published by Oxford University Press

[411 journals]

Editorial
- Authors: McAdam J.
  Pages: 179 - 181
  Abstract: It is a great pleasure to bring you this special issue of the International Journal of Refugee Law on the protection of refugees and internally displaced persons in Africa. It commemorates the 50th anniversary of the 1969 Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa and the 10th anniversary of the 2009 African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention).
  PubDate: Tue, 24 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/ijrl/eez039
  Issue No: Vol. 31, No. 2-3 (2019)
Reconsidering African Refugee Law
- Authors: Cantor D; Chikwanha F.
  Pages: 182 - 260
  Abstract: Fifty years have now passed since the 1969 Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa was adopted by the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Within international refugee law, the OAU Refugee Convention (OAU Convention) is often taken to encapsulate the ‘African’ legal approach to refugees. This anniversary represents an opportune moment to review the state of ‘African’ refugee law. This article seeks to contribute to that regional undertaking by providing insights based on a comparative analysis of national refugee laws in African States. This encompasses consideration of how national law engages with the OAU Convention, as a centre of gravity for refugee law development in the region, but it extends also to exploring whether an ‘African’ approach to refugee law can be discerned in the novel ways in which the national refugee laws of African States (i) implement other refugee and human rights law treaties, and (ii) create new refugee law rules without precedent in treaty law. By building a more comprehensive picture of comparative refugee law in Africa, the study aims to complement existing refugee law studies in Africa that focus mainly on the international law level or on local implementation within only one or two States.
  PubDate: Mon, 04 Nov 2019 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/ijrl/eez032
  Issue No: Vol. 31, No. 2-3 (2019)
The Supervision (or Not) of the 1969 OAU Refugee Convention
- Authors: Sharpe M.
  Pages: 261 - 289
  Abstract: This article covers the supervision of the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa (1969 Convention). It begins by defining treaty supervision and describing key understandings of it in the international refugee law literature. These are then harnessed to create a model of supervision (the Supervisory Model) to frame the ensuing discussion. How the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees is supervised is presented within this Supervisory Model, by way of background. The article then moves on to its principal focus, beginning with an overview of the calls for, and claims regarding, supervision of the 1969 Convention. The need for supervision is then established based on two principal elements. First, the 1969 Convention’s incomplete implementation in States parties to the treaty, in both refugee status determination and in relation to rights guaranteed by the instrument. Secondly, existing bodies with quasi-supervisory or supervisory mandates – the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees – are not effectively redressing such implementation deficiencies. With the need for supervision established, a new supervisory mechanism is proposed and the procedural options to create it are outlined.
  PubDate: Fri, 04 Oct 2019 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/ijrl/eez025
  Issue No: Vol. 31, No. 2-3 (2019)
Who Is a Refugee in Africa' A Principled Framework for Interpreting
and Applying Africa’s Expanded Refugee Definition
- Authors: Wood T.
  Pages: 290 - 320
  Abstract: Africa’s expanded refugee definition – article I(2) of the 1969 Convention – provides the legal basis of protection for a significant number of the world’s refugees. It is a gateway to a host of rights aimed at protecting refugees from future harm and preserving their dignity until a durable solution can be found. The expansive nature of the African definition has seen it praised for being more humanitarian, more reflective of current causes of displacement, and an exemplar for the development of refugee protection regimes elsewhere. Despite this, the scope of the definition and the meaning of its terms remain poorly understood in both literature and practice. Attempts to interpret the definition to date have been largely superficial and often lacking in any principled interpretative framework. This undermines its implementation in practice, potentially risking the lives and security of those entitled to protection as refugees in Africa.This article sets out a principled framework for interpreting and applying Africa’s expanded refugee definition. The framework is drawn from international law principles of treaty interpretation, as set out in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and customary international law. However, this article goes beyond merely reciting the relevant principles: it analyses their scope, applicability to Africa’s expanded refugee definition, and implications for the interpretation of the definition’s terms. It also identifies, and describes in detail, four key principles for interpreting the expanded refugee definition. These four key principles are critical to addressing the shortcomings of existing understandings of the definition and some of the main controversies that arise in its interpretation and application. They also provide a practical and accessible source of guidance for refugee status decision makers and others that could assist in promoting consistency, transparency, and fairness in refugee status determination within African States.
  PubDate: Sun, 29 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/ijrl/eez026
  Issue No: Vol. 31, No. 2-3 (2019)
Mauritian Courts and the Protection of the Rights of Asylum Seekers in the
Absence of Dedicated Legislation
- Authors: Mujuzi J.
  Pages: 321 - 342
  Abstract: Mauritius became a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention through succession but is yet to accede to the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees. It has signed but not yet ratified the OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa and has not signed the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa. Unlike many other countries in Africa, Mauritius has not yet enacted domestic legislation dealing with the issue of refugees. However, international human rights obligations and domestic legislation allow the rights of asylum seekers to be protected in Mauritius. This article argues that the principle of non-refoulement bars Mauritius from extraditing or deporting an asylum seeker to a country where he or she will be persecuted or where his or her rights will be violated, and that asylum seekers and citizens are equally protected by the Constitution with regard to absolute rights. However, limitations may be imposed on asylum seekers in their enjoyment of non-absolute rights. For such limitations to be lawful, they must aim to achieve the objectives stipulated in section 3 of the Constitution.
  PubDate: Tue, 24 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/ijrl/eez036
  Issue No: Vol. 31, No. 2-3 (2019)
The Role of African Courts in Promoting Refugee Rights
- Authors: Lenaola I.
  Pages: 343 - 348
  PubDate: Tue, 24 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/ijrl/eez022
  Issue No: Vol. 31, No. 2-3 (2019)
In Lieu of a Travaux Préparatoires: A Commentary on the Kampala
Convention for IDPs
- Authors: Okello J.
  Pages: 349 - 378
  Abstract: The Kampala Convention was adopted on 23 October 2009 and came into force on 4 January 2013. The first binding international instrument for the protection and assistance of internally displaced persons, it occupies an important space among the body of African regional humanitarian and human rights law. The Convention addresses all stages of internal displacement and provides a framework for coordinating activities by governments and humanitarian actors aimed at preventing and addressing internal displacement. The Kampala Convention is the result of many years of work, although no formal records of its drafting and negotiation were kept. This article contributes towards addressing this gap. Based on the author’s personal involvement in the Convention’s drafting, and supplementing earlier research, this article shares information previously unavailable in the public domain and provides a commentary on some of the Convention’s provisions.
  PubDate: Tue, 24 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/ijrl/eez037
  Issue No: Vol. 31, No. 2-3 (2019)
Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme Statement
by Volker Türk
- Authors: .
  Pages: 379 - 388
  Abstract: 75th Meeting of the Standing Committee, Geneva, 18–20 June 2019
  PubDate: Tue, 24 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/ijrl/eez028
  Issue No: Vol. 31, No. 2-3 (2019)
Addressing Displacement in the Context of Disasters and the Adverse
Effects of Climate Change: Elements and Opportunities in the Global
Compact on Refugees
- Authors: Türk V; Garlick M.
  Pages: 389 - 399
  Abstract: The Global Compact on Refugees (GCR)11 aims fundamentally to strengthen the way in which the international community responds to large-scale and protracted displacement worldwide. Based on the New York Declaration of September 2016,22 and affirmed by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly on 17 December 2018,33 it acknowledges the challenges associated with refugee movements in many regions worldwide, providing a framework for more predictable and equitable responsibility sharing to reinforce support for refugees and the communities that host them.
  PubDate: Tue, 24 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/ijrl/eez029
  Issue No: Vol. 31, No. 2-3 (2019)
Case Law Summaries
- Pages: 400 - 403
  PubDate: Tue, 24 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/ijrl/eez023
  Issue No: Vol. 31, No. 2-3 (2019)
The Internal Protection Alternative in Refugee Law: Treaty Basis and Scope
of Application under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of
Refugees and Its 1967 Protocol
- Authors: Storey H.
  Pages: 404 - 408
  Abstract: SchultzJessica, The Internal Protection Alternative in Refugee Law: Treaty Basis and Scope of Application under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and Its 1967 Protocol (Brill Nijhoff, Leiden & Boston2018) xi + 404 pp, ISBN 978-90-04-36195-9 (hbk), ISBN 978-90-04-36196-6 (ebk)
  PubDate: Tue, 24 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/ijrl/eez033
  Issue No: Vol. 31, No. 2-3 (2019)
The Regional Law of Refugee Protection in Africa
- Authors: White P.
  Pages: 408 - 410
  Abstract: SharpeMarina, The Regional Law of Refugee Protection in Africa (Oxford University Press, Oxford2018) xxxv + 409 pp, ISBN 978-0-19-882622-4 (hbk)
  PubDate: Tue, 24 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/ijrl/eez034
  Issue No: Vol. 31, No. 2-3 (2019)
The National versus the Foreigner in South America: 200 Years of Migration
and Citizenship Law
- Authors: Hinterberger K.
  Pages: 411 - 414
  Abstract: AcostaDiego, The National versus the Foreigner in South America: 200 Years of Migration and Citizenship Law (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge2018) xviii + 412 pp, ISBN 978-1-108-42556-8 (hbk)
  PubDate: Tue, 24 Dec 2019 00:00:00 GMT
  DOI: 10.1093/ijrl/eez035
  Issue No: Vol. 31, No. 2-3 (2019)