APPRAISAL OF THE RIGHTS OF REFUGEES UNDER INTERNATIONAL LAW

ABSTRACT At the start of the twenty-first century, more than fifty years after the drafting of the 1951 Convention relating to the Rights and Status of Refugees, international refugee rights and protection has remained at the crossroads. In a globalizing world and a rapidly changing political environment, the Convention faced many -challenges. These included new forms of persecution and conflict, complex mixed migration movements, the reluctance of many states to accept refugees, and restrictive interpretation of the Convention. This dissertation addressed the rights of refugees under international law and paid attention to key questions relating to the 1951 Convention, where it was considered that greater clarity and coherence of interpretation was needed. The dissertation examined some of the legal issues that were part of the system of governance for refugees as it related to their rights. The cornerstone of this system has been the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol. The aim/objective of this dissertation was to appraise the extent to which the legal instruments enshrined in the 1951 Convention were used effectively, equitably, and efficiently towards the enforcement of the rights and protection of refugees under international law. Refugee rights and protection problems cannot be addressed in isolation. All stakeholders, whether they were international organizations, governments, judiciaries, civil society, non-governmental organizations, or academia, needed to have strengthened their partnerships and clarified their roles. The methodology appropriately adopted for this dissertation was the qualitative and library-based approach. The research also focused on desktop literature studies, included legal texts and periodical articles. Clearer understanding and more consistent implementation were an integral part which ensured that refugee rights, protection, burdens and responsibilities were shared more equally, and that some of the world's most vulnerable individuals were able to find durable solutions to their plight and to enjoy the respect that they deserved. On the contrary, this research discovered that currently there were millions of refugees around the world whose rights were being violated against the dictates enshrined in international legal instruments such as the 1951 Convention. The dissertation has recommended that all State parties and delegates at the Ministerial Meeting of the 1951 Convention and/or 196~ Protocol in December 2001 to effectively 'strengthen asylum and render protection of rights more effective'. It is hoped that this appraisal should serve as a tool to assist those involved in the protection of the rights of refugees under international law.