Handbook

This course introduces students to the international legal regime for forcibly displaced persons. It introduces the 1951 Convention relating to the status of Refugees (Refugee Convention), including who qualifies for refugee status, the protections afforded to refugees and the procedures for refugee status determination. The course also considers the capacity of the current international legal framework to respond to statelessness and other displaced persons who do not fall within the framework of the Refugee Convention, such as internally displaced persons, persons fleeing human rights abuses or civil war, and those whose movement is a result of climate change or environmental catastrophe. The course considers the theoretical underpinnings of the international forced migration regime and queries why States have agreed to protect certain categories of persons and not others, and whether this is legally and/or ethically sound.

This course considers the legal obligations of States and international organisations to assist and protect forced migrants. While the focus of the course is on international law responses to issues of forced migration, consideration will also be given to the relationship between the international legal regime and domestic law. In particular, this course will provide an opportunity to discuss current issues in forced migration regulation in Australia.

This course relates to and extends learning from other courses in UNSW Law & Justice, including Public International Law, Law in the Global Context, International Humanitarian Law, Australian Immigration Law and Practice and International Human Rights Law and Advocacy.

Main Topics

• Conceptualising 'forced migration'
• The international refugee law regime
• The role and function of UNHCR
• Refugee status determination
• The principle of non-refoulement
• The role of human rights law: complementary protection
• Australian refugee policy
• Maritime interception and non-admission policies
• Durable solutions and complementary pathways to protection
• Climate-induced displacement
• Statelessness
• Smuggling and trafficking
• Internally displaced persons (IDPs)
• Emerging issues in refugee law and protection