VULNERABILITY OF REFUGEE STATUS IN CONTEMPORARY INTERNATIONAL LAW

Abstract

Under international law, refugees are persons outside their countries of origin who are
inneed of international protection because of a serious threat to their life, physical integrity
or freedom in their country of origin as a result of persecution, armed conflict, violence or
serious public disorder. For many centuries, refugee movements were a result of religious
and racial intolerance. It is obvious that the vulnerabilities that migrants and refugees face
run deep. The international community has now recognized that human rights violations are
a major cause of mass exoduses. The refugee problem continues to challenge the
international community. Refugee-receiving States should maintain their commitment to the
protection of refugees and encourage tolerance towards diversity; refugee-producing States
should prevent acts that produce mass exoduses of their populations. The world needs to
reach an agreement on how best to prevent new flows of refugees. If poverty is the major
cause of refugee flows, some solutions could be found in development aid or technical
assistance. If human rights violations are the principal causes of mass exoduses, solutions
may lie in continuous monitoring by United Nations human rights bodies, condemnation of
violations by the international community and the appointment of Special Rapporteurs to
study specific situations and to make suggestions. If violent conflicts are the causes of flows,
solutions may be found in preventive diplomacy, in the promotion of mediation as the means
to conflict resolution and in respect for provisions of humanitarian law.