In a world in deep crisis, tendencies toward protectionism and xenophobia, as well as fear of new mass flows of asylum seekers, have brought the development of international instruments for the benefit of refugees to a virtual halt. The legal framework was formed during the 1950s and 1960s. There are several definitions of “refugee,” serving different purposes, and there is a trend to interpret and apply them more narrowly. The term “economic refugee” is a misnomer. There are many categories of de facto refugees, the common denominator being that they should not be forcibly returned to their homeland. States employ different, often very crude methods to stem the tide of would-be refugees. More humane and equitable practices could be developed at negligible financial and political cost; so too could a low-keyed protocol on territorial asylum, making us aware of our responsibility as fellow human beings.
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References
1.
1. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (28 July 1951), United Nations Treaty Series (UNTS), 189: 137; Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (31 Jan. 1967), UNTS, 606:267.
2.
2. See United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), United Nations Resolutions and Decisions Relating to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 3rd ed., loose-leaf, U.N. Doc. HCR/Inf/48/Rev.2, with addenda (1975).
3.
3. OAU Convention, in UNHCR, Collection of International Instruments Concerning Refugees, 2nd ed. (Geneva: UNHCR, 1979), p. 193.
4.
4. Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948; European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, 1950; International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966; International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966; and American Convention on Human Rights (Pact of San José, Costa Rica), 1969; in UNHCR, Collection of International Instruments, pp. 99, 274, 104, 128, 207.
5.
5. See Atle Grahl-Madsen, The Status of Refugees in International Law, vol. 1, Refugee Character (Leyden: Sijthoff, 1966), pp. 142 ff. and references given there.
6.
6. See Grahl-Madsen, Status of Refugees, vol. 2, Asylum, Entry and Sojourn (Leyden: Sijthoff, 1972), pp. 81 ff.
7.
7. OAU Convention, art. I(2).
8.
8. There are also a number of other international instruments referring to that definition, such as the 1957 Hague Agreement Relating to Refugee Seamen (with a 1973 Protocol); and the 1959 European Agreement on the Abolition of Visas for Refugees; in UNHCR, Collection of International Instruments, pp. 48, 54, 301.
9.
9. On this rule, see Atle Grahl-Madsen, Territorial Asylum (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, and Dobbs Ferry, NY: Oceana, 1980), pp. 40 ff.
10.
10. On this notion, see Atle Grahl-Madsen, “Protection for the Unprotected,”Yearbook of the AAA (Association of the Attenders and Alumni of The Hague Academy of International Law), 37/38: 176-185 (1967/68).
11.
11. Refugee Convention, art. 35.
12.
12. OAU Convention, art. VIII; see also art. VII.
13.
13. See sec. 2 of the 1956 Norwegian Aliens Act (Fremmedloven); sec. 28 of the 1965 German Aliens Act (Ausländergesetz); and sec. 3 of the 1980 Swedish Aliens Act (Utlänningslagen).
14.
14. See note 2, and resolutions of the Council of Europe in Grahl-Madsen, Territorial Asylum, pp. 160, 211, 212.
15.
15. Refugee Convention, art. 1B.
16.
16. The Protocol removed the dateline, “events occurring before 1 January 1951.”
17.
17. Hugo Grotius, De jure belli ac pacis (1625), bk. 2, ch. 2, sec. xvi.
18.
18. Emmerich de Vattel, Le droit des gens ou principes de la loi naturelle; appliqués à la conduite et aux affaires des Nations et des Souverains (1758) (Washington, DC: Carnegie Institution, 1916), 3:92, sec. 231.
19.
19. See Atle Grahl-Madsen, “International Refugee Law Today and Tomorrow,”Archiv des Völkerrechts (1982, in press).
20.
20. See Grahl-Madsen, Status of Refugees, vol. 2, pp. 9 ff.
21.
see also the documents cited in note 4.
22.
22. See extradition treaties listed in Grahl-Madsen, Status of Refugees, vol. 2, pp. 9 ff.
23.
23. See Grahl-Madsen, Territorial Asylum, pp. 24 ff.
24.
24. 1980 Swedish Aliens Act, sec. 6; see also sec. 5.
25.
25. See note 54.
26.
26. In most countries, it is a criminal offense not to rescue persons in distress at sea, if this can be done without serious risk to the rescuing vessel. Refugees thus rescued may often be landed only on the condition that the flag state consent to admit the refugees to its territory, if they have no other place to go. The alternative would be to let them stay on board. If they are enlisted as crew members, they may be entitled to admission to the territory of the flag state after 600 days, according to the 1957 Hague Agreement on Refugee Seamen.
27.
27. See Grahl-Madsen, Status of Refugees, vol. 1, pp. 188 ff.
28.
28. My translation.
29.
29. For some comments, see Grahl-Madsen, “International Refugee Law.”
30.
30. See Government of Canada, Office of the Minister of Employment and Immigration, The Refugee Status Determination Process: A Report of the Task Force on Immigration Practices and Procedures, cat. no. MP 15-11/1981E (Ottawa: Minister of Supply and Services Canada, 1981), pp. 14-15.
31.
31. The average chance of being murdered in the United States in any one year is one in 10,000. Could this be relevant?
32.
32. On the possibility of derogating from the rule of non-refoulement in the case of a mass influx of refugees, see Grahl-Madsen, “International Refugee Law.”
33.
33. The term “Convention refugee” is used here to denote a person who is a refugee according to the 1951 Refugee Convention and/or the 1967 Refugee Protocol.
34.
34. A mandate refugee is a refugee under the mandate of the UNHCR, according to the 1950 UNHCR Statute and subsequent resolutions of the U.N. General Assembly; see note 2.
35.
35. See OAU Convention, art. I(2).
36.
36. 1980 Swedish Aliens Act.
37.
37. See the following section.
38.
38. See Grahl-Madsen, Territorial Asylum, pp. 95 ff., and further sources cited there.
39.
39. See notes 15 and 16.
40.
40. See Enrico Lapenna, ed., I Rifugiati in Italia (Rome: UNHCR Branch Office, and Italian Order of Malta Sections of the Association for the Study of the World Refugee Problems [AWR], 1980), pp. 6-7, 217.
41.
41. See Grahl-Madsen, Status of Refugees, 1:317 ff.
42.
and Grahl-Madsen, “International Refugee Law.”
43.
43. See Grahl-Madsen, “International Refugee Law.”
44.
44. See Lapenna, I Rifugiati in Italia.
45.
45. For example, Convention travel documents are available only to Convention refugees.
46.
46. See, however, notes 4 and 50.
47.
47. See the new 1982 German Asylum Procedural Act (Gesetz über das Asylverfahren).
48.
48. See Grahl-Madsen, Status of Refugees, vol. 1, p. 340.
49.
49. See the laws mentioned in note 13.
50.
50. See conventions adopted under the auspices of the Council of Europe and the International Labour Organisation
51.
51. See Grahl-Madsen, “International Refugee Law.”
52.
52. Ibid.; see also further sources cited there.
53.
53. See Grahl-Madsen, Status of Refugees, vol. 1, pp. 341 ff.
54.
54. Gesetz über Massnahmen fur im Rahmen humanitärer Hilfsaktionen aufgenommene Flüchtlinge, 22 July 1980.
55.
55. See Grahl-Madsen, Territorial Asylum, pp. 102 ff.
56.
56. On the meaning of this phrase, see Grahl-Madsen, Status of Refugees, vol. 1, pp. 282 ff.
57.
57. See Michel Moussalli, “Who Is a Refugee?”Refugees Magazine, 1:41-43 (Sept. 1982).
58.
58. See Poul Hartling, “Concept and Definition of `Refugee': Legal and Humanitarian Asspects,”Nordisk Tidsskrift for International Ret, 48:125-138, 129-130 (1979).
59.
59. See Moussalli, “Who Is a Refugee?” p. 42.
60.
60. See General Assembly Res. 3274(XXIX) (10 Dec. 1974), 31/36 (30 Nov. 1979).
61.
61. See Hartling, “Concept and Definition of `Refugee,'” p. 134.
62.
62. Such persons may, of course, receive a certificate entitling them to certain benefits, such as care and maintenance.
63.
63. See Grahl-Madsen, “Protection for the Unprotected.”
64.
64. “Push factor” and “pull factor” are terms denoting circumstances that cause a person to leave his homeland and make it attractive to seek an abode abroad.
65.
65. See Grahl-Madsen, “International Refugee Law,” and further sources cited there.
66.
66. See art. 13(2) of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights; and art. 12(2) of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
67.
67. Quoted from General Assembly Res. 35/124 (11 Dec. 1980).
68.
68. See Grahl-Madsen, “International Refugee Law.”
69.
69. See Grahl-Madsen, Territorial Asylum, pp. 102 ff.
70.
70. See art. 96(2) of the U.N. Charter (26 June 1945).
71.
71. See Grahl-Madsen, Territorial Asylum, pp. 69 ff.
