[MUSIC] The refugee phenomenon has ancient roots. For as long as there have been borders, people have fled troubles on their side of the border to seek sanctuary on the other side. But if we are interested in how societies respond to the phenomenon of refugees. The last hundred years are distinctive in the gradual development of a global system for addressing refugee arrivals and refugee crises. It remains the bedrock of refugee protection in the early 21st century. To recall the international refugee regime that has been created by the states, even today a system may risk overstating the coherence of the whole, which rather resembles a disperate set of loosely interlocking moving parts. Nonetheless, under the framework of the United Nations, this global system for protecting refugees rests upon two key elements that were developed during the 20th century, and which remain in place today. There is the international institution mandated by the governments of the United Nations to care for refugees, and promote their interests. This is the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, to give it its full title. Was created in 1950 to deal with the remnants of the refugee problems created by the second World War, and on which the politics of the emerging Cold War we're beginning to impact. Twice awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for its worldwide assistance to refugees since then, UNHCR 16,000 staff members today work on behalf of the global community in close to 140 countries. Nowadays the main operational humanitarian arm of the United Nations organization, UNHCR helps to house, feed and shelter tens of millions of refugees and displaced persons across the globe. To get the sense of the true scale and impact of UNHCR operations, please do read the extracts from UNHCR global reports that are among your readings for this session. In legal terms UNHCR his primary mandate consists of non-political and humanitarian action with governments and other actors, to ensure the international protection of refugees, and seek solutions for refugee situations. Whether those solutions take the form of voluntary repatriation, local integration, or for a tiny number of refugees resettlement to a third country. On this session's discussion forum, you might want to consider whether UNHCR's mandate is achievable still. In this regard, I'd highly recommend the reading for this session by Jeff Crisp on UNHCR's mandates, which is called the Broadening Boundaries of UNHCR. The second key element of this global system is the UN legal agreement that requires governments to treat refugee arrivals according to certain shared standards. Over three quarters of the world's governments have signed up to this 1951 Refugee Convention, or its 1967 protocol, and thus agreed to be bound by those standards as a matter of international law. As we saw last session, who counts as a refugee and thus benefits from the protection of this international legal agreement, is also defined by article 1A2 of the Refugee Convention. To understand how the Refugee Convention was created, on the contents of the standards for refugee protection that it provides, please have a good look at the reading for this session called the 1951 Convention, signing on could make all the difference. As you'll see, one of the key guarantees in the refugee convention is the protection most refugees received against refoulement in Article 33. That is a French term that in the refugee context means being sent to a country where the refugee might face persecution. However, the Refugee Convention also requires states that have signed on to observe a range of other guarantees, including but not limited to those relating to the refugee's legal status, access to gainful employment, welfare, identity papers, and travel documents in the host state. Article 35 of the Refugee Convention also requires states to cooperate with the UN refugee agency, as it discharges its functions. UNHCR and the 1951 convention then are two cornerstones of a global system of international protection. However, it is important to note that they are not its only features. Indeed, the on the ground response to refugees involves not only UNHCR and governments, but a range of other actors, including other international agencies and NGOs, civil society groups, refugee diaspora and community organizations, churches, academics and concerned individuals. Indeed, for the longstanding Palestinian refugee population in the Middle East, a separate UN regime exists in which protection and assistance functions are carried out principally by the UN Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, rather than by UNHCR. Similarly, alongside the 1951 convention, refugees across the globe are subject to a wide range of international, regional and national level laws, policies and practices in the fields of refugee protection, immigration and human rights law. It seems to be a feature of the refugee field that scholars, politicians, and other observers like to periodically call into question whether this global refugee regime remains fit for purpose. What do you think about it? This is a question you are asked to consider for this week's assessment. Some of my own views are set out in a brief article on the reading list for this session. In this regard, I'd also like to draw to your attention the Global Compact on Refugees that was recently adopted by the UN General Assembly in December 2018. This was an attempt to respond to some of the concerns about the refugee regime. Its drafting was led by UNHCR, with input from a range of stakeholders including governments, NGOs, academics, and refugees themselves. It was adopted alongside a separate Global Compact on migration. The Refugee Compact is not a legally binding agreement, like the 1951 Refugee Convention. But rather represents an aspirational direction of travel for the regime as a whole to the better implemented. Especially around such issues as responsibility sharing in the refugee field. Have a look at the reading on the Global Compact on Refugees for this session. Do you think it brings the regime up to date? What are the pros and cons of this approach? The key points of this session is that a global system exists for responding to refugees. And though they are not its only features, you should be broadly familiar with the role of UNHCR as the global actor charged by the UN with refugee protection. And with the standards for refugee protection spelled out in the 1951 convention, the cornerstone of refugee protection globally. [MUSIC]
