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The 1951 Refugee Convention was a major advance for the protection of people under persecution, defining the concept of refugees and the legal obligation of States to provide them with protection. However, the current system has been put under great stress by the scale and complexity of recent developments, which was the motivation for organizing the UN High-Level Plenary on Addressing Large Movements of Refugees and Migrants in September 2016. Having an understanding of the relevant legal frameworks for the protection of refugees is, in this context, critical for those working in the humanitarian sector.

This learning session provided an introduction to refugee law and other legal frameworks granting protection to refugees. Participants were provided with a presentation on the fundamental concepts in these legal frameworks and their legal and operational limitations. Following this, there was an opportunity for questions.

Please note that a separate learning session on the legal protection of internally displaced persons (IDPs) was organized on 21 February 2017. Read more about the session on IDPs and watch the recordings at https://phap.org/21feb2017

Speaker

Jean-François Durieux is a graduate of Facultés Universitaires St-Louis in Brussels, Belgium, and obtained a Law Degree from the Catholic University of Louvain. He has taught international law at the Refugee Studies Centre (Oxford) 2007-2009, and again 2011-2012. In 2011, Mr Durieux completed a 30-year career with UNHCR, during which he served in Africa, Asia, North America and Latin America, as well as at UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva, notably in the Division of International Protection and in the Regional Bureau for Europe. His last position in the organization was that of Director in the Division of Programme Support and Management. Mr Durieux’s research interest has focused on legal responses to mass influxes of refugees, including a comparison of African and European regimes and a reflection on the legal implications of refugee emergencies and protracted refugee situations. He has organized seminars and short courses on statelessness and on the cross-fertilization of refugee law, human rights law, and international humanitarian law. He has recently co-edited, with Dr David Cantor, a major book on the interface between IHL and international refugee law. From September 2014 to September 2016, he was the director of the International Refugee Law and Migration Law programme of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law, based in Sanremo (Italy). He is currently contributing, both as a module convenor and as a tutor, to the distance-taught MA in Refugee Protection and Forced Migration Studies of the University of London, under the auspices of the Refugee Law Initiative.

Event host

Angharad Laing Executive Director, International Association of Professionals in Humanitarian Assistance and Protection (PHAP)

Recordings and follow-up

Follow-up responses

Read the answers by Jean-François Durieux to the follow-up questions

Recording (YouTube - faster loading time)

Recording (Adobe Connect - higher quality)

Recording (audio podcast)

Recommended resources

UNHCR website on refugee protection.
Refugee Law Initiative, “Refuge from Inhumanity? War Refugees at the Intersection of IHL and Refugee Law,” International Law Programme Meeting Summary, Chatham House, 25 February 2015.
NRC, “The Obligations of States towards Refugees under International Law: Some Reflections on the Situation in Lebanon,” Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), June 2016.

During the event the following reference documents were mentioned:

1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, and Resolution 2198 (XXI) adopted by the United Nations General Assembly on the Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees.
African Union’s 1969 Convention governing the specific aspects of refugee problems in Africa.
Directive 2013/32/EU on common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection, 26 June 2013.
UNHCR Eligibility Guidelines for Assessing the International Protection Needs of Asylum-Seekers from Afghanistan, 19 April 2016.
New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, draft resolution referred to the high-level plenary meeting on addressing large movements of refugees and migrants by the United Nations General Assembly at its seventieth session, 13 September 2016.

Learning objectives

Knowledge of key concepts in international refugee law.
Awareness of other legal frameworks relating to the protection of refugees, including international human rights law and international humanitarian law.
Knowledge of States’ legal obligations towards refugees and limitations of those obligations.
Familiarity with the applicability of existing legal frameworks to the current “migration/refugee crisis” and challenges in applying the frameworks in practice.

Target audience and event access

The Online Learning Series on Humanitarian Law and Policy targets humanitarian practitioners needing a basic to intermediate level of understanding of key legal and policy areas related to humanitarian action.