Welcome, Support, Pledge, Resettle: Responsibility sharing in the Global Compact on Refugees (original) (raw)
Related papers
2019
In 2016, the leaders of 193 governments committed to more equitable and predictable sharing of responsibility for refugees as part of the New York Declaration, to be realized in the upcoming Global Compact on Refugees. To encourage debate, this paper presents the first global model to measure the capacity of governments to physically protect and financially support refugees and host communities. The model is based on a new database of indicators covering 193 countries, which assigns a fair share to each country and measures current government contributions to the physical protection of refugees. The model also proposes a new government-led global platform in support of refugee protection and human development.
Völkerrechtsblog, 2019
In December 2018, the Global Compact on Refugees was adopted. Especially over the last year, its drafting and negotiations could appear in odd contrast to the surrounding world, in which conditions for seeking asylum continued to harshen. Is the compact a step towards countering these conditions, or mere window-dressing without much effect on refugees' rights? The compact is non-binding and one widely shared view is that all will depend on how states build on it (see analyses here and here). Yet something has happened already. Over the course of the last two
BURDEN-SHARING IN INTERNATIONAL REFUGEE LAW -TAKEAWAYS FROM THE PAST AND THE ROAD AHEAD
ISIL Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law and Refugee Law, 2021
Effective refugee protection and assistance necessitates a sharing of responsibilities and close coordination between wealthier and poorer states. While the richer states may wonder why they should share the burden with 'Southern' countries of first asylum, it will be demonstrated in this article that the same is in their best interest for several good reasons.The present article analyses the international burden-sharing normative framework including the latest Global Compact. The article also explores prominent past and contemporary refugee crises and the corresponding response by the coordinating states.The goal of the exercise is to cull out key takeaways and plan for a better and a more operational refugee assistance regime.
Refugee Survey Quarterly, 2019
This article provides a detailed examination of the gap in international refugee law regarding burden sharing and reviews the measures on international cooperation in the Global Compact on Refugees. In doing so, the article seeks to establish the extent to which the Global Compact on Refugees will address the normative gap on burden sharing. By arguing, from the outset, the Global Compact on Refugees seems unlikely to fill this gap in an adequate and a comprehensive manner, the article concludes with a proposal on how to improve the burden sharing aspect of the Compact and its prospect of filling the gap on burden sharing.
Fences and fictions: lessons from schemes of responsibility-sharing for refugees in Europe
The Protection of General Interests in Contemporary International Law, 2021
The topic of responsibility-sharing is at the heart of current endeavors to reform the international system of refugee protection. In the 2016 New York Declaration, states "underline the centrality of international cooperation to the refugee protection regime" and "commit to a more equitable sharing of the burden and responsibility for hosting and supporting the world's refugees". 1 The 2018 Global Compact on Refugees affirms this commitment, containing a section on "arrangements for burdenand responsibility-sharing". 2 There is far-reaching consensus that the issue of responsibility-sharing is key for tackling the significant problems in the system of refugee protection: the deterrence of asylum-seekers, the denial of refugee rights, protracted refugee situations, a downward spiral in the protection offered by states. However, there is little agreement on what a fair and viable conception of responsibility-sharing requires. What schemes for allocating responsibility exist? How can one move towards a more just distribution of responsibility among states? And how do different models of responsibility-sharing affect the number and needs of refugees?
Burden-sharing: the international politics of refugee protection
2006
This article shows that the refugee burdens among Western states are also very unequally distributed and that this constitutes a problem not only for individual states, but also for the EU as whole. It argues that despite many obstacles, the development of regional or international burdensharing regimes is indeed desirable. Attempts to explain or justify steps towards such a system do not have to rely solely on notions of solidarity but can be justified by more traditional interest-based motivations. However, it suggests that the EU’s main burden-sharing initiatives which rely largely on policy harmonisation will not achieve the Union’s objectives in this area. It will be argued that market-based burden-sharing mechanisms need to be explored further and that such market driven policies when combined with policy harmonisation and quota-based initiatives are likely to contribute to a more equitable, efficient and effective refugee burden-sharing system.
GroJIL 9(1), 2021
The global refugee protection system is founded on two core values, assuring a safe and dignified life away from violent regimes and conflicts: the right to asylum and the non-refoulement rule. While there are no internationally agreed definitions for these concepts, their fragmentation affects the equitable and predictable burden- and responsibility-sharing, and subsequently, successful international cooperation in refugee matters. By analysing the right to asylum in legal theory and examining its application in the jurisprudence of international human rights monitoring bodies, this article seeks to explore the complexity of heterogeneous approaches with regard to refugees. Furthermore, the impediments to the functioning of the current refugee protection regime is identified by analysing the complicated nature of its umbrella maxim - the non-refoulement rule. The article examines how the lack of clarity on the contents of the right to asylum and the non-refoulement rule causes different, sometimes contradictory, approaches regarding the corresponding international obligations of states. It further explores how the diversified understanding of these foundational principles makes it difficult to identify common protection needs and the responsibilities of states with regard to international cooperation and burden- and responsibility-sharing on refugee matters. Eventually, the fragmentation of these core values threatens their unequivocal application and results in failing refugee protection regimes. Consequently, this article argues that a common understanding on the right to asylum and non-refoulement rule represents a condicio sine qua non for securing equitable and predictable burden- and responsibility-sharing mechanism in refugee matters.
2018
In December 2018, the United Nations General Assembly is due to adopt a “Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration” and a “Global Compact on Refugees”. These initiatives are intended to give new momentum to the international cooperation in refugee and migration policy. The first drafts are promising, but the “Zero Draft” for the Refugee Compact is not yet ambitious enough. With regard to the ongoing negotiations on the Refugee Compact, the German government should, in particular, submit proposals on how to strengthen the implementation of the Compact, how to improve the resettlement of refugees, and how to provide sustainable financial support to host countries.