Benny Morris' The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem was published in 1988. Its startling revelations about how and why 700,000 Palestinians left their homes and became refugees during the Arab-Israeli war in 1948 undermined traditional interpretations as to whether they left voluntarily or were expelled as part of a systematic plan. This book represents a revised edition of the earlier work, compiled on the basis of newly-opened Israeli military archives. While the focus remains the 1948 war and the analysis of the Palestinian exodus, the new material contains more information about what happened in Jerusalem, Jaffa and Haifa, and how events there led to the collapse of Palestinian urban society. It also sheds light on the battles and atrocities that resulted in the disintegration of rural communities. The story is a harrowing one. The refugees now number four million and their existence remains a major obstacle to peace.

The Birth of the Palestinian Refugee Problem Revisited

This book provides a comparative study of refugee case law in Europe and North America. Nearly five thousand decisions were recorded and one thousand five hundred have been considered in the national reports. This descriptive work is followed by a more analytical part, offering a new way to interpret the definition of a refugee based on three elements: Risk, Persecution and Proof (R.P.P.), summarized in the `Theory of the Three Scales'. This book will be of great interest to organisations, practitioners and decisions makers in Refugee Law, and to scholars of Comparative Law. Of related interest: Europe and Refugees: A Challenge?/L'Europe et les réfugiés: un défi?, edited by Jean-Yves Carlier and Dirk Vanheule (Kluwer Law International, 1997, 90-411-0347-3), contains a collection of essays analysing the plight of refugees today, paying particular attention to the situation in Europe, and to the new European treaties such as the Dublin Convention, the Schengen Agreement and the Resolution of the European Union.

Who is a Refugee?

This volume brings the refugee issue out of the narrow confines of refugee law into the centre of international law and international relations. It reviews the concept of the refugee and the international protection of refugees from the unconventional angle of the prospects and limitations of multilateralism in the post Cold War era. The broadening concept of security, affecting the attitudes of states towards refugees, is the underlying theme of the book. As a result, the contemporary preoccupation with how best to provide international protection to all those in need of it is reviewed from a number of relevant perspectives: including that of peacekeeping, sanctions, and coordination and competence within the United Nations.

Broadening the Edges

This comprehensive study examines the refugee phenomenon originating in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, and suggests the means by which the international community can assist those in greatest need.

Escape from Violence

What duties do liberal democratic states owe to refugees? Does international refugee law impose unfeasible demands on states? This highly original contribution explores what theories of international ethics have to say about refugee policy. It advances an innovative critique of prevalent liberal approaches, showing how their assumptions about moral agency create unfeasible expectations about international justice. It sets out an alternative theory, showing how this could be more adept at mobilizing commitment to refugee rights. The volume will be of interest not just to scholars and students of applied ethics, but also to those more generally interested in debates on refugee and migration policy. It presents a clear and thorough discussion of liberal political theory and its application to questions of international justice, and provides insights into the philosophical sources of debates on liberal versus restrictive approaches to refugee policy.

The Ethics of Refugee Policy

With more than 18 million refugees worldwide, the refugee problem has fostered an intense debate regarding what political changes are necessary in the international system to provide effective solutions in the 1990s and beyond. In the past, refugees have been perceived largely as a problem of international charity, but as the end of the Cold War triggers new refugee movements across the globe, governments are being forced to develop a more systematic approach to the refugee problem. Beyond Charity provides the first extensive overview of the world refugee crisis today, asserting that refugees raise not only humanitarian concerns but also issues of international peace and security. Gil Loescher argues persuasively that a central challenge in the post Cold-War era is to develop a comprehensive refugee policy that preserves the right of asylum while promoting greater political and diplomatic efforts to address the causes of flight. He presents the contemporary crisis in a historical framework and explores the changing role of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Loescher suggests short-term and long-term reforms that address both the current refugee crisis and its underlying causes. The book also details the ways governmental structures and international organizations could be strengthened to assume more effective assistance, protection, and political mediation functions. Beyond Charity helps frame the debate on the global refugee crisis and offers directions for more effective approaches to refugee problems at present and in the future.

Beyond Charity: International Cooperation and the Global Refugee Crisis

Millions of people today are forced to flee their homes as a result of conflict, systemic discrimination, persecution, and other violations of their human rights. The core instruments on which they must rely to secure international protection are the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, now complemented by international and regional human rights treaties. This book, the leading text in a field where refugee law is now a subject of global importance, examines key challenges to system of international protection, including those arising from within the asylum process, increased controls over the movements of people, and the 'new' concern with security. The situation of refugees is one of the most pressing and urgent problems facing the international community and refugee law has grown in recent years to a subject of global importance. In this long-awaited third edition, each chapter has been thoroughly revised and updated, every issue, old and new, has received fresh analysis, and 'complementary' or human rights-based protection is given special attention. Features include: analysis and assessment of developments in interpreting the refugee definition, with particular reference to 'social group', 'exclusion', procedures, and the impact of European Union harmonization initiatives. In addition, this book reviews the situation of refugee women and children; the plight of Palestinian refugees; the protection of internally displaced persons; the role and responsibilities of the UNHCR, including in the administration of camps and settlements; the current status in general international law of the fundamental principles of non-refoulement, asylum, and the right to seek asylum; and the extent of protection possibilities in human rights treaties, particularly the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Refugee in International Law

Refugee

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