Focus on UNHCR

A new book entitled UNHCR and International Refugee Law: From Treaties to Innovation, by Corinne Lewis, has just been published by Routledge.  Here's the description:

This book considers the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees’ contribution to international refugee law since the establishment of UNHCR by the United Nations General Assembly in 1951. The book explores the historical and statutory foundations that create an indelible link between UNHCR and international refugee law. This book charts the significant evolution that has occurred in the organisation’s role throughout the last sixty years, looking at both the formal means by which UNHCR’s mandate may be modified, and the techniques UNHCR has used to facilitate the changes in its role, thereby revealing a significant evolution in the organisation’s role since the onset of the crisis in refugee protection in the 1980’s. UNHCR, itself, has demonstrated its organizational autonomy as the primary agent for the adaptation of its responsibilities and work related to international refugee law. The author does suggest however that UNHCR needs to continue to extend and strengthen its role related to international refugee law if UNHCR is to ensure a stronger legal framework for the protection of refugees as well as a fuller respect for refugees’ rights in practice.

Other recent items that examine UNHCR's mandate and work:

Humanitarians without Borders: Work, Mobility and Wellbeing in UNHCR, New Issues in Refugee Research, no. 237 (UNHCR, May 2012) [text]

"The Impact of Global Migration Governance on UNHCR," Chapter by Alexander Betts in The Migration-Displacement Nexus: Patterns, Processes, and Policies (Berghahn Books, Sept. 2011) [info]
- Preview the chapter in Google Books.

"Statelessness and Human Rights: The Role of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)," EAFIT Journal of International Law, vol. 2, no. 2 (2011) [full-text]

"The Uneven Development of the International Refugee Regime in Postwar Asia: Evidence from China, Hong Kong and Indonesia," Journal of Refugee Studies, Advance Access, 25 June 2012 [abstract]
- Examines past UNHCR's approach to refugee problems in Asia.

"The UNHCR's Evolving Mandate," Le Monde Diplomatique (June 2012) [English] [French]

"The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees: Autonomy and Mandate Change," Chapter by Alexander Betts in International Organizations as Self-Directed Actors: A Framework for Analysis (Routledge, April 2012) [info]
- Preview the chapter in Google Books.

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