The Refugee Convention

What is it about?

This book chapter undertakes a conceptual examination of the Refugee Convention, and its associated regional treaties and agreements, to assert that the intricate nature of the current international refugee protection regime poses challenges for individuals seeking protection, regardless of their classification as refugees. This intricacy is marked by two key factors: the diverse definitions of refugee and the inconsistencies and gaps within the framework. After a historical contextualisation of the Convention and the refugee definition, this chapter highlights that the international refugee protection regime extends beyond the Refugee Convention and its Protocol, encompassing subsidiary protection regimes and advances within international human rights law. Its intricacy is also demonstrated by examining the different regional definitions of refugee and an analysis of the deficiencies within the Convention. It concludes with an analysis of the academic discourse regarding the expansion or narrowing of the refugee definition and highlights the need to develop new frameworks to protect individuals who fall outside of the refugee definition.

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Photo by Matthew TenBruggencate on Unsplash

Photo by Matthew TenBruggencate on Unsplash

Why is it important?

This chapter shows that the intricate nature of the current international refugee protection regime poses challenges for individuals seeking protection, regardless of their classification as refugees.