Towards a comprehensive refugee policy

Description

According to the author, violence is the main cause of refugees as conventionally understood. Strategies to modify the outflow of refugees, therefore, must be informed by an understanding of social conflict. Following a brief analysis of refugee flows during the Cold War period, this paper analyses the emerging structure of refugee-producing conflicts in the post-Cold War period. The author states that the transition to the new era requires first of all that the legacy of the past be dealt with. At present, millions of international refugees are products of the 'regional conflicts' of the Cold War. While defused, these conflicts continue to smoulder: in all of them the task of repatriation and reconstruction is truly enormous. Unless these processes move ahead, the poison of old conflicts will remain lodged in the post-Cold War world and produce renewed refugee flows. Simultaneously, there are unprecedented opportunities for dealing cooperatively with international refugee problems. The new international structures, including the growing significance of the United Nations, makes it possible to act on the experience of past refugee regimes. In this respect, the overriding lesson of the past is that an effective refugee policy is a comprehensive refugee policy: that is, one which seeks to modify the root causes of population outflow as well as providing relief to its victims. The author concludes that democratization, minority protection and international crisis management are not within the jurisdiction of the international refugee regime, but the breakdown of these processes will determine its workload. In order to develop a comprehensive refugee policy, the international community must equally concern itself with these issues. (Based on author's summary).

Subjects

Series Statement

• Working paper / Programme of Human Rights Studies, Chr. Michelsen Institute -- M 1992:2