The 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol are the cornerstones of international refugee law. This Commentary provides a systematic, article-by-article analysis of their provisions in addition to crosscutting thematic chapters. The Commentary is an indispensable tool for lawyers, decision-makers, and academics.

Under what circumstances can a state refuse refugee status to a person whose risk of persecution exists in only part of her country of origin? This book is the first monograph to examine the treaty basis and criteria for the ‘internal protection alternative’ (IPA), an exception to refugee status increasingly invoked by state parties to the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. Through a critical analysis of the relationship between refugee law and related fields, Schultz finds that the legal scope for IPA practice is narrower than is commonly claimed. Since persons subject to an IPA analysis have a well-founded fear of persecution within their countries of origin, any limit on their right to refugee status must involve a careful balancing of the impact of continued displacement against the state's interest in preserving its restricted protection resources. She argues that the doctrine of implied limits in human rights law can provide analytic structure to the IPA concept and reduce the risk of overly broad application.

The Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees adopted on 28 July 1951 in Geneva continues to provide the most comprehensive codification of the rights of refugees yet attempted. Consolidating previous international instruments relating to refugees, the 1951 Convention with its 1967 Protocol marks a cornerstone in the development of international refugee law. At present, there are 149 States Parties to one or both of these instruments, expressing a worldwide consensus on the definition of the term refugee and the fundamental rights to be granted to refugees. These facts demonstrate and underline the extraordinary significance of these instruments as the indispensable legal basis of international refugee law. This Commentary provides for a systematic and comprehensive analysis of the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol on an article-by-article basis, exposing the interrelationship between the different articles and discussing the latest developments in international refugee law. In addition, several thematic contributions analyse questions of international refugee law which are of general significance, such as regional developments, the interrelationship between refugee law and general human rights law, as well as the relationship between refugee law and the law of the sea.

The impact of violence and conflict on refugee status determination and international protection is a key developing field. Given the contemporary dynamics of armed conflict, how to interpret and apply the refugee definitions at global and regional levels is increasingly relevant to governmental policy-makers, decision-makers, legal practitioners, academics and students. This book will provide a comprehensive analysis of the global and regional refugee instruments as they apply to claimants in flight from situations of armed violence and conflict, exploring their interrelationship and how they are interpreted and applied (or should be applied). As part of a broader United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees project to develop guidelines on the interpretation and application of international refugee law instruments to claimants fleeing armed conflict and other situations of violence, it includes contributions from leading scholars and practitioners in this field as well as emerging authors with specific expertise.

2. The role of UNHCR

This book is an evaluation of the international response to a major protracted humanitarian situation. As such, it is the first comprehensive account and assessment of the effectiveness of international law in dealing with Iraqi refugees during the regime of Saddam Hussein.

In an age of ethnic nationalism and anti-immigrant rhetoric, the study of refugees can help develop a new outlook on social justice, just as the post-war international order ends. The global financial crisis, the rise of populist leaders like Trump, Putin, and Erdogan, not to mention the arrival of anti-EU parties, raises the need to interrogate the refugee, migrant, citizen, stateless, legal, and illegal as concepts. This insightful Research Handbook is a timely contribution to that debate.