International Protection, Refugees & the UN SUMMER SCHOOL ON HUMAN RIGHTS, PALERMO 2017

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 14(1) “Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution” Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 14(1)

Overview Protection UNHCR UN 1951 Refugee Convention & 1967 Protocol Protection at the UN level

Protection Primary responsibility lies with the State Legal Framework: individual rights in treaty law Solutions Framework: Humanitarian assistance, repatriation, durable solutions

UNHCR Specific mandate – UNHCR statute Refugees IDPs Statelessness Absence of any formal treaty supervisory mechanism UNHCR Handbook 1979 & UNHCR Guidelines : authoritative guidance on the interpretation of the Refugee Convention

State parties to the Refugee Convention Pacta sunt servanda Article 26 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties: Every treaty in force is binding upon the parties to it and must be performed in good faith” Article 35 Refugee Convention: cooperation of the national authorities with the UN

Refugee Definition A refugee is a person who owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence is unable or, owing to such fear, unwilling to return to it.

Article 31: Unlawful presence The Contracting States shall not impose penalties, on account of their illegal entry or presence, on refugees who, coming directly from a territory where their life or freedom was threatened in the sense of article 1, enter or are present in their territory without authorization, provided they present themselves without delay to the authorities and show good cause for their illegal entry or presence. The Contracting States shall not apply to the movements of such refugees restrictions other than those which are necessary and such restrictions shall only be applied until their status in the country is regularized or they obtain admission into another country. The Contracting States shall allow such refugees a reasonable period and all the necessary facilities to obtain admission into another country

Article 33 Non-refoulement No Contracting State shall expel or return (‘refouler’) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. The benefit of the present provision may not, however, be claimed by a refugee whom there are reasonable grounds for regarding as a danger to the security of the country in which he is, or who, having been convicted by a final judgment of a particularly serious crime, constitutes a danger to the community of that country.

Refugee Convention Catalogue of rights for refugees: property; access to the Court, right of association, employment, housing, public education & relief, freedom of movement, social security, travel documents etc Non-discrimination (Art.3)

Complementary protection The Cartagena Declaration 1969 Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention governing the specific aspects of refugee problems in Africa Subsidiary protection in the EU legal framework

Role of other International Law & Treaty bodies Convention against Torture (Art. 3); International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Art. 7) etc Human Rights Treaty Body Monitoring Mechanisms: Committee against Torture; Human Rights Committee; Committee on the Rights of the Child, Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Individual complaint mechanisms, monitoring & reporting mechanisms

The future: Discussion 2012 Roundtable proposal: Special Committee of Experts tasked with issuing Advisory Opinions on the interpretation & application of the Refugee Convention Supra-national role of the Court of Justice of the European Union : EU Political will