Globally, persecution, conflict, war, and climate change are causing record numbers of refugees and others to be forcibly displaced from their homes and countries. The burden for their protection is falling disproportionately on some states whilst others erect increasingly sophisticated obstacles to avoid or deflect their own responsibilities. In many states, anti-immigrant rhetoric and hostile nativist nationalism are providing the fuel for draconian states’ policies and practices to keep people away from their borders. As a result, the humanitarian plight of displaced people is increasingly fragile as the traditional principles, structures and systems of humanitarian protection are eroded and struggle to cope.
This specialised elective course will:
(a) trace the historical principles, legal instruments and practices developed to protect refugees and other forcibly displaced persons;
(b) with particular reference to ‘real time’ case studies, examine contemporary and emerging forms of forced displacement in the 21st Century, including internal displacement, statelessness, and environmental and climate- driven factors;
(c) examine critically the responses taken by states to manage, and often, their responsibilities to protect forcibly displaced people;
(d) examine the adequacy and shortcomings in the current global regime for protection and explore proposals that would better protect people and also the address the legitimate concerns of states affected
The course will draw on international, regional, and national legal sources including refugee, international humanitarian, and human rights law and will examine through real case studies the social and geopolitical context in which these laws are situated. The course will equip students with a broad overview of contemporary law and policy relating to forced displacement and will situate New Zealand within a broader regional and global context.