Refugee Rights and International Protection

The modern framework for refugee rights and international protection is grounded in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, which together establish the definition of a refugee and enshrine the principle of non-refoulement, prohibiting the return of individuals to territories where they face persecution. Beyond these core instruments, regional treaties and customary international law extend rights to asylum seekers, including access to fair and efficient procedures, freedom of movement, and the right to work and education. Over time, states have developed subsidiary protection schemes for those who do not meet the strict refugee definition but nevertheless face serious harm. Durable solutions—voluntary repatriation, local integration and resettlement—seek to end refugee status, yet many displaced people endure protracted situations under temporary protection regimes that may limit fundamental rights. Contemporary research explores the ethical, legal and political tensions that arise when states balance sovereignty concerns with obligations of protection, the moral status of individuals awaiting adjudication, and the inequitable responsibilities shared between Global North and South. Practical applications include new legal interpretations to safeguard failed asylum seekers in good faith, innovative regional resettlement frameworks, and comparative analyses of temporary protection models, all underscoring the global imperative to adapt international protection to shifting patterns of displacement and to ensure that basic human rights are upheld in policy and practice.

Research from Nature Portfolio

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Refugee Rights and International Protection publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in refugee rights and international protection across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Refugee: A person who, owing to a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside their country of nationality and unable or unwilling to avail themselves of its protection.

Asylum seeker: An individual who has applied for refugee status and is awaiting a decision on their claim.

Non-refoulement: The principle prohibiting the expulsion or return of a refugee to territories where their life or freedom would be threatened.

Subsidiary protection: A form of international protection afforded to persons who do not qualify as refugees but would face serious harm if returned to their country of origin.

Resettlement: A durable solution in which a refugee is transferred from a country of first asylum to a third state that agrees to admit them and grants permanent settlement rights.

Temporary protection: A mechanism granting short-term protection and rights to displaced persons in mass influx situations without full refugee status.

References

1. Why failed asylum seekers should have a conditional right to stay: an ethical guideline for policy debates. Comparative Migration Studies (2024).
2. Morality in the Refugee Regime? Arguing for More (Political) Realism in Admitting Refugees. Perspectives on Politics (2024).
3. Refugee protection: ‘Here’ or ‘there’?. Migration Studies (2022).
4. Justice in waiting: The harms and wrongs of temporary refugee protection. European Journal of Political Theory (2020).