Refugee law is the branch of international law

International law

Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...

 which deals with the rights and protection of refugees. It is related to, but distinct from, international human rights law

International human rights law

International human rights law refers to the body of international law designed to promote and protect human rights at the international, regional and domestic levels...

 and international humanitarian law

International humanitarian law

International humanitarian law , often referred to as the laws of war, the laws and customs of war or the law of armed conflict, is the legal corpus that comprises "the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Conventions, as well as subsequent treaties, case law, and customary international law." It...

, which deal respectively with human rights

Human rights

Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...

 in general, and the conduct of war in particular.

Sources of refugee law

Refugee law encompasses both customary law, peremptory norm

Peremptory norm

A peremptory norm is a fundamental principle of international law which is accepted by the international community of states as a norm from which no derogation is ever permitted.There is no clear agreement regarding precisely which norms are jus cogens nor how a norm reaches that status, but...

s, and international legal instruments. The only international instrument is the UN Convention, with an optional Protocol, while various regional bodies have instruments applying only to member states. The instruments include:

• the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees
• modified by the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees
  Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees
  The Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees entered into force on October 4, 1967. Where the United Nations 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees had restricted refugee status to those whose circumstances had come about "as a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951", as...
  
  http://www.unhcr.bg/bglaw/en/_02_protocol%2067en.pdf, which a country has to have signed separately
• the 1966 Bangkok Principles on Status and Treatment of Refugees adopted at the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee in 1966.
• the 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africahttp://www.africa-union.org/Official_documents/Treaties_%20Conventions_%20Protocols/Refugee_Convention.pdf
• the 1984 Cartagena Declaration on Refugeeshttp://www.asylumlaw.org/docs/international/CentralAmerica.PDF for Latin America
• the 1976 Council of Europe
  Council of Europe
  The Council of Europe is an international organisation promoting co-operation between all countries of Europe in the areas of legal standards, human rights, democratic development, the rule of law and cultural co-operation...
  
  's Recommendation 773 (1976) on the Situation of de facto Refugeeshttp://www.bundestag.de/internat/interparl_orga/weu/weu_52/773rec.pdf
• the 2004 European Union
  European Union
  The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
  
  's Council Directive on minimum standards for the qualification and status of third country nationals and stateless persons as refugees or as persons who otherwise need international protection and content of the protection grantedhttp://europa.eu/eur-lex/pri/en/oj/dat/2004/l_304/l_30420040930en00120023.pdf

Under international law

International law

Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...

, refugees are individuals who:

• are outside their country
  Country
  A country is a region legally identified as a distinct entity in political geography. A country may be an independent sovereign state or one that is occupied by another state, as a non-sovereign or formerly sovereign political division, or a geographic region associated with a previously...
  
   of nationality
  Nationality
  Nationality is membership of a nation or sovereign state, usually determined by their citizenship, but sometimes by ethnicity or place of residence, or based on their sense of national identity....
  
   or habitual residence;
• have a well-founded fear of persecution because of their race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion; and
• are unable or unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution.

See also

• Right of asylum
  Right of asylum
  Right of asylum is an ancient juridical notion, under which a person persecuted for political opinions or religious beliefs in his or her own country may be protected by another sovereign authority, a foreign country, or church sanctuaries...
  
  
• Refugee
  Refugee
  A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
  
  
• Refugee roulette
  Refugee roulette
  Refugee roulette refers to arbitrariness in the process of refugee status determinations or, as it is called in the United States, asylum adjudication...
  
  
• Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts Project (RULAC)
  Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts Project (RULAC)
  The Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts Project is an initiative of the to support the application and implementation of the international law of armed conflict.-Overview:...
  
  

External links

• Program in Refugee and Asylum Law Comprehensive program for the study of international and comparative refugee law at the University of Michigan Law School.
• Refugee Caselaw Site Searchable electronic repository of case law documents relating to the legal definition of refugee status under the 1951 Convention.
• Refugee Law Reader.
• Refugee Law Project (RLP) A leading Ugandan organisation producing research and analysis on refugee issues
• Rule of Law in Armed Conflicts Project
• U.S. settles lawsuit by rejected refugee claimant CBC news.
• Refugees and International Law Forum: Papers Documents and other resources related to refugee and human rights law.