LAW 831 - Refugee and Asylum Law

College of Law
3 credit(s) Irregularly

The 1951 Refugee Convention relating to the Status of Refugees is over 60 years old. The number of people forcibly uprooted by conflict and persecution stands at over 40 million and is unlikely to diminish. Against this background, international debates continue regarding the nature of the protection that refugees should be granted, the role of the international community, and the obligations of receiving countries towards refugees. This course aims to introduce students, through comparative legal studies, to how the 1951 Refugee Convention has developed.
The module covers the international legal framework for refugee protection, its main challenges and shortcomings, by referring to how international, regional, and national courts interpret and implement refugee and asylum law. Main areas of discussion will include international criteria for the attainment, exclusion and withdrawal of refugee status, the development of the non-refoulement principle, and the changing role of UNHCR, as well as how the EU, the AU and OAS employ the term refugee while also noting how states react to those decisions.