Hardback
Resettlement as Protection
Integrating Resettlement of Refugees in International Refugee Law
9781781004159 Edward Elgar Publishing
This timely book focuses on one of the so-called “durable solutions to the problem of refugees” that UNHCR has been charged to pursue: resettlement. Resettlement consists of the transfer of refugees from their country of asylum to another state in case of severe protection problems in the country of asylum. States are not obliged to offer resettlement places, and in practice that means that resettlement is run as a discretionary immigration scheme. This book attempts to integrate resettlement in international refugee law.
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Critical Acclaim
Contents
More Information
This timely book focuses on one of the so-called “durable solutions to the problem of refugees” that UNHCR has been charged to pursue: resettlement. Resettlement consists of the transfer of refugees from their country of asylum to another state in case of severe protection problems in the country of asylum. States are not obliged to offer resettlement places, and in practice that means that resettlement is run as a discretionary immigration scheme. This book attempts to integrate resettlement in international refugee law.
Key to the analysis is understanding what the need for resettlement means: in essence a second country of asylum. The integration of resettlement in international refugee law does not mean an end to the discretion states have; but once the decision has been taken to process UNHCR resettlement referrals, discretion gives way to the applicability of international (refugee) law. Since it is not included in the main refugee treaties, resettlement has so far never been considered in terms of international refugee law with detrimental consequences for the refugees concerned. This book demonstrates that treating resettlement as an outlier is not only out of sync with the international rule of law, but moreover legally untenable.
Forward-thinking and incisive, Resettlement as Protection is a fundamental resource for students and scholars of international refugee law, international law, human rights and migration. It is also key reading for resettlement practitioners, lawyers, advocates and activists working in the fields of refugee rights and international law.
Key to the analysis is understanding what the need for resettlement means: in essence a second country of asylum. The integration of resettlement in international refugee law does not mean an end to the discretion states have; but once the decision has been taken to process UNHCR resettlement referrals, discretion gives way to the applicability of international (refugee) law. Since it is not included in the main refugee treaties, resettlement has so far never been considered in terms of international refugee law with detrimental consequences for the refugees concerned. This book demonstrates that treating resettlement as an outlier is not only out of sync with the international rule of law, but moreover legally untenable.
Forward-thinking and incisive, Resettlement as Protection is a fundamental resource for students and scholars of international refugee law, international law, human rights and migration. It is also key reading for resettlement practitioners, lawyers, advocates and activists working in the fields of refugee rights and international law.
Critical Acclaim
‘Marjoleine Zieck has made a major contribution to the field of refugee law through this original, well-researched and analytical study. She demonstrates that existing international refugee law has often been neglected by states and international agencies when refugees are considered for resettlement protection in third states.’
– Terje Einarsen, University of Bergen, Norway
‘The particular beauty of this book is that its forward-looking prescriptions are anything but rhetorical. Professor Zieck’s prodigious appetite for detail, her determination to unearth the full historical record, and her insistence on learning from past experience allow her to show why it is that a protection-based approach to resettlement represents real logical progress, seamlessly reconciling the valuable lessons learned from a century of resettlement practice to modern legal commitments.’
– From the foreword by James C. Hathaway, University of Michigan Law School, US
– Terje Einarsen, University of Bergen, Norway
‘The particular beauty of this book is that its forward-looking prescriptions are anything but rhetorical. Professor Zieck’s prodigious appetite for detail, her determination to unearth the full historical record, and her insistence on learning from past experience allow her to show why it is that a protection-based approach to resettlement represents real logical progress, seamlessly reconciling the valuable lessons learned from a century of resettlement practice to modern legal commitments.’
– From the foreword by James C. Hathaway, University of Michigan Law School, US
Contents
Contents:
Foreword
1 A polysemous solution to the problem of refugees
2 Resettlement in the interbellum, the Second World War and
its aftermath
3 UNHCR’S resettlement practice from 1951 to 1994: The ad
hoc years
4 UNHCR’S resettlement practice from 1995 to 2023: The
structured years
5 The resettlement procedure of UNHCR and states
6 Integrating resettlement in international refugee law
7 Summary: Resettlement as part of international refugee law
Appendix I: Resettlement figures 1952–2023
Appendix II: Treaties in chronological order
Bibliography
Foreword
1 A polysemous solution to the problem of refugees
2 Resettlement in the interbellum, the Second World War and
its aftermath
3 UNHCR’S resettlement practice from 1951 to 1994: The ad
hoc years
4 UNHCR’S resettlement practice from 1995 to 2023: The
structured years
5 The resettlement procedure of UNHCR and states
6 Integrating resettlement in international refugee law
7 Summary: Resettlement as part of international refugee law
Appendix I: Resettlement figures 1952–2023
Appendix II: Treaties in chronological order
Bibliography
