Thematic Focus: General - Pt. 1

Short pieces:

As the U.N. Seeks Its Next Secretary-General, a Growing Number of Countries Favor a Woman for the Post (Just Security, Dec. 2025) [text]

UNHCR’s Filippo Grandi lauds refugee champions at his final Nansen Refugee Award ceremony (UNHCR, Dec. 2025) [text]

Reports & book chapters:

From the Ground Up: Regional Perspectives on Advancing the Global Compact on Refugees - Global Synthesis Report (Independent Diplomat, 2025) [access via IPS article]

Global Refugee Forum Progress Review, Geneva, 15-17 Dec. 2025 [info]

- Meeting documentation and recordings are available here; see also the HC's opening speech and related press releases, here and here. This news story summarizes the HC's final public address, given on the closing day of the GRF.

Note on the Mandate of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR, Dec. 2025) [text]

"World Bank Forcible Resettlement: The Need for More Inspection Panel Scrutiny," Chapter in Perspectives on Accountability at International Financial Institutions (Brill/Nijhoff, Dec. 2025) [open access]

Multimedia:

UNHCR at 75: Challenges and Opportunities, 26 Nov. 2025 [access]

Related posts:

- News: New UNHCR Leadership (19 Dec. 2025)

- Thematic Focus: General (11 Dec. 2025)

Thematic Focus: Law/Policy Items - Pt. 1

Opportunities:

Call for proposals: Brill invites proposals for refugee law research books [info]

- No deadline indicated.

Webinar series: Non-signatory States in International Refugee Law, 30 September–15 December 2025 [info]

- Three-part series exploring themes presented in the a/m newly-published open access book. The third seminar on 25 November 2025 will focus on "Laws, Courts and Research."

Webinar: UNHCR at 75: Challenges and Opportunities, 26 November 2025 [info]

Short pieces:

Keynote Address, "Building bridges: Advancing refugee protection in a divided world," 2025 Kaldor Centre Conference, 23 Oct. 2025 [text]

- See also related UNSW news release. 

Refugee Protection in the Lens of Age: Towards an Age-Sensitive Approach (RLI Blog, Nov. 2025) [text]

Reports & book chapters: 

Judicial Well-being and Resilience Guidelines (International Association of Refugee and Migration Judges, Nov. 2025) [text]

Practical Guide on Free Legal Counselling (EU Agency for Asylum, Oct. 2025) [access]

- Follow link for the guide and an executive summary.

"Reading Climate into the Refugee Convention: Lessons from the Unfinished Business of Gender-Based Asylum," Chapter in Climate Change, Migration, Gender, and the Law (Edward Elgar, Forthcoming) [preprint]

- "This chapter traces the incomplete evolution of international refugee law with respect to protection claims related to gender. It examines the similarities and differences between such claims and the emerging area of climate-related displacement law and draws out lessons from the ongoing struggle to see gender as central to the notion of international protection."

Safeguarding protection, ensuring efficiency: quick processing of claims unlikely to succeed, Online, 25 June 2025 (Asylum Capacity Support Group, July 2025) [access]

- Follow link for meeting documents and the outcome report.

Strategic Approach to Strengthening National Asylum Systems (UNHCR, Oct. 2025) [access]

- Available in English and French.

Related post:

- Thematic Focus: Law/Policy Items (20 Oct. 2025)

News & Events: UNHCR at 70

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) turned 70 on 14 December 2020. This media page provides more info about the establishment of the organization, as well as access to archived documents, videos, photos, and an opinion piece authored by the High Commissioner and available in four languages. In addition, this Spotlight provides a visual journey of UNHCR's efforts to provide protection and assistance to refugees over 70 years.

A conference commemorating the anniversary will take place over four days in January. Here are the details:

70 Years Protecting People Forced to Flee: Virtual Conference on the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 18, 19, 21, 27 January 2021 [info via GAIN] [info via Essex]

- This event will feature "unique contributions from academia to burden and responsibility sharing, protection and solutions for refugees, as well as how academic research can inform policy making, programme implementation and evidence-based decision-making." There will be an opening ceremony that provides a global introduction to the concepts of protection and solutions, followed by eight regional sessions, all of which will be livestreamed on the Essex Human Rights Centre Youtube channel; recordings will be posted after the fact for those who could not participate.   

Last but not least, a crowdfunding initiative is underway to raise funds in support of refugee scholarships. More info is available here.

News: UNHCR's Revised RSD Manual

UNHCR has just issued a revised version of its Procedural Standards for Refugee Status Determination Under UNHCR's Mandate. The first edition of the manual was published in 2003. The aim of this resource is to "set out the minimum procedural standards for when RSD is conducted by UNHCR under its mandate. It establishes core principles and standards that must be observed to ensure that all asylum-seekers applying for refugee status determination under UNHCR’s mandate benefit from accurate, timely and consistent decision-making and to support capacity development of UNHCR RSD staff and other stakeholders."

You can access the complete version here or by individual chapter here. The Spanish version is available here.

Regional Focus: Syria

News - Russian plan for return of Syrian refugees:

*At Syria Talks in Sochi, UNHCR Emphasizes Importance That Returns Meet International Standards (UNHCR, July 2018) [text]

"Russia, U.S. Eyeing Joint Plan for Return of Syrian Refugees," RFE/RL, 20 July 2018 [text]

"Russian Envoy Urges Syrian Refugee Return," Reuters, 26 July 2018 [text]

"Some Syrian Refugees Oppose Russian Repatriation Push," Washington Post, 26 July 2018 [text]

UNHCR Appeals for Safe Passage for Civilians in Southern Syria, Says International Standards on Refugee Returns Essential (UNHCR, July 2018) [text]

Publications:

Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons in Syria (Middle East Consulting Solutions, May 2018) [text via ReliefWeb]

The Fragile Legal Order Facing Syrian Refugees in Lebanon (EU Immigration & Asylum Law & Policy Blog, July 2018) [text]

Inside the Largest Mass Displacement of Syria’s War (Refugees Deeply, July 2018) [text]

“Jordan Shut Out 60,000 Syrian Refugees — and Then Saw a Backlash. This is Why,” Washington Post, 20 July 2018 [text]

Stuck in Lebanon: A Syrian Refugee Family’s Life in Limbo (The Conversation, July 2018) [text]

"Syrian Refugee Group Returns from Lebanon," Reuters, 28 July 2018 [text]

"Syrian Refugees are Marrying for Survival, Sometimes against Their Will," Teen Vogue, 24 July 2018 [text]

Syrian Refugees in Lebanon: Potential Forced Return? (Atlantic Council Blog, July 2018) [text]

Syrians Have the Right to Seek Asylum, but Not the Means (RI Blog, June 2018) [text]

*UPDATED

Related post:
- Regional Focus: MENA, incl. Syria (18 July 2018)

Tagged Publications.

Thematic Focus: Law/Policy Items

News:

The latest issue of the Journal of Human Rights Practice includes a special collection of articles that address "The End of Refugee Protection?" The full-texts of these seven opinion pieces are freely available. Titles are as follows:

• Mobilizing Home for Long-Term Displacement: A Critical Reflection on the Durable Solutions [text]
• Asylum, Refugee Protection and the European Response to Syrian Migration [text]
• Refugee Protection and the Art of the Deal [text]
• (Avoiding) The End of Refugee Status Determination [text]
• The End of Refugee Law? [text]
• Expanding the Frontiers of Refugee Law: Developing a Broader Law of Asylum in the Middle East and Europe [text]
• Refugees and National Human Rights Institutions: A Growing Engagement [text]

Event:

High Commissioner’s Dialogue on Protection Challenges, 2017, Geneva, 12-13 December 2017 [info]
- An estimated schedule has now been posted.

Publications:

Book Review: The Child in International Refugee Law by Jason Pobjoy (Free Movement Blog, Oct. 2017) [text]

"Let Me be a Refugee," Law and Politics Book Review, vol. 27, no. 5 (June 2017) [text]

Mandate of the High Commissioner for Refugees and His Office: Executive Summary (UNHCR, 2017?) [text]
- Note: This document seems to have been recently posted to the UNHCR web site, but since it does not include a date of publication, it may not have been recently drafted. There is already a note on the HC's mandate from 2013 that is online under the "High Commissioner" section of the web site.

"Maritime Legal Black Holes: Migration and Rightlessness in International Law," European Journal of International Law (Forthcoming) [preprint]

Principles and Guidelines, Supported by Practical Guidance, on the Human Rights Protection of Migrants in Vulnerable Situations, Draft (OHCHR, Oct. 2017) [access]

Report on the Compendium of Principles, Good Practices and Policies on Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration in Line with International Human Rights Law, UN Doc. No. A/HRC/36/42 (UN General Assembly, Sept. 2017) [text via ReliefWeb]

Le Standard Minimum de Traitement des Etrangers en Droit International (Audiovisual Library of International Law, Nov. 2017) [access]

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Law/Policy Items (6 Nov. 2017)

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities.

New Issue of IJRL

The latest issue of the International Journal of Refugee Law (IJRL) has been published. Contents of vol. 28, no. 1, March 2016 include:

• The Origins of UNHCR’s Global Mandate on Statelessness [abstract]
• Fleeing Cartels and Maras: International Protection Considerations and Profiles from the Northern Triangle [abstract]
• The Almaty Process: Improving Compliance with International Refugee Law in Central Asia [abstract]
• Lack of State Protection or Fear of Persecution? Determining the Refugee Status of North Koreans in Canada [abstract]

In addition, this issue features case law summaries, documents from the UNHCR Executive Committee and Nansen Initiative, and book reviews.

Tagged Periodicals.

News: UNHCR RSD Projects

1. UNHCR RSD Procedures

UNHCR is undertaking a chapter-by-chapter revision of its manual, Procedural Standards for Refugee Status Determination under UNHCR's Mandate, which was published in 2003. To date, the following two updated sections have been released:

- Interpretation in UNHCR RSD Procedures [text]
- Legal Representation in UNHCR RSD Procedures [text]

The revision process will continue throughout 2016.  When all chapters have been reviewed and finalized, a new complete version of the manual will be issued.

Visit this Refworld page to keep track of new updates as they become available.

2. Quality in UK Asylum Decision-making

The UNHCR office in the UK has been working with the Home Office to improve the "quality of first instance asylum decision-making." During the initial Quality Initiative Project period, which ran from 2004-2009, "UNHCR issued six confidential reports to the UK Minister for Borders and Immigration setting out the Office’s findings and observations under the remit of the project as well as detailing specific recommendations." These have now been made public and can be accessed via the UNHCR UK web site, along with the UK government's responses to the reports. [Note: I'm not sure exactly when these became public but Refworld just posted them recently!]

The Quality Integration Project, "established in 2010 as a follow-on to the Quality Initiative Project, will work to implement existing recommendations and to engage in quality assurance matters across the UK asylum process." Its reports can also be accessed via the UNHCR UK web site.

3. Asylum Systems Quality Initiative in Eastern Europe and South Caucasus

The second phase of this project will run from 2015-2017 and "will focus on addressing outstanding gaps in refugee status determination procedures, as well as on improving access to asylum and the quality of judicial review."

You can read more about the first phase of this initiative on the UNHCR Ukraine web site.

Related posts:
- Promoting Quality in EU Asylum Procedures (26 Sept. 2011)
- Update re. EU Asylum Quality (30 Sept. 2011)

Tagged Publications and Web Sites/Tools.

Opportunities: CFPs for IASFM16

The 16th conference of the International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) will be held in Poznan, Poland on 12-15 July 2016. The theme is "Rethinking Forced Migration and Displacement: Theory, Policy and Praxis."

If you are interested in organizing a panel, here is the call. The deadline for panel proposals is 1 February 2016.

Alternatively, consider submitting a paper as part of one of the following proposed panels:

A Common European Asylum System [info]
- No due date indicated.

Documentation, Preservation and Researching the History of Forced Migration: Ethical and Methodological Developments [info]
- Abstract due date: 3 January 2016.

Framing and Regulating International Marriage Migration [info]
- Abstract due date: 8 January 2016.

From Roots to Routes: Unravelling the Mediterranean Migration ‘Crisis’ and the European Political and Policy Response [info]
- Abstract due date: 18 January 2016.

Protection Gaps in the Geneva Convention and UNHCR Statute: Policy and Praxis [info]
- Abstract due date: 15 January 2016.

Researching Refugee Resettlement [info]
- Abstract due date: 15 January 2016.

Situating Refugee and Forced Migration Narratives: Process, Products, and Power [info]
- Abstract due date: 30 December 2015.

Transit Countries: Challenges, Pressure and Compromises [info]
- Abstract due date: 1 February 2016.

[Note: The a/m proposals were all originally circulated on the Forced Migration Discussion List.  If you know of any others, please let me know and I will add them to this post.]

Finally, donations to support a travel fund are being solicited. The fund would be used "to support participation of graduate students, scholars and practitioners from low-income countries as well as refugees."

Tagged Events & Opportunities. 

Thematic Focus: General

Alert 2015! Report on Conflicts, Human Rights and Peacebuilding (School for a Culture of Peace, 2015) [text via ReliefWeb]

Australia and Europe: Failing the World’s Refugees (Asylum Insight, June 2015) [text]

"Dealing with the Influx of Migrants and Refugees," Room for Debate Section, New York Times, 2 June 2015 [text]

"Global Migration Issues: Myths and Realities," Chapter One in Global Migration: Old Assumptions, New Dynamics (Praeger, May 2015) [text via SSRN]
- More info. about the book is available here.

Reference Information: New UNHCR, IMO, ICS Guide to Rescue at Sea Available Today (UNHCR, June 2015) [text]
- Note: I have already included this title in an earlier blog post, but I am mentioning it again here because the announcement is a little misleading.  The guide has actually been available since January 2015.

Refugees and Migrants at Sea: Duties of Care and Protection in the Mediterranean and the Need for International Action, Presentation at "Migrants' Rights in the Mediterranean," Naples, 11 May 2015 [text]

Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons, UN Doc. No. A/HRC/29/34 (UN General Assembly, April 2015) [text via Refworld]

"Turned Away: The Plight of Migrants and Refugees," World Politics Review, 4 June 2015 [access]
- *Note*: These articles are available free-of-charge for two weeks.

UNHCR's Mandate in Relation to Assistance to Refugees and Other People of Concern (UNHCR, June 2015) [text]

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: General, incl. Urban Displacement (28 May 2015)

Tagged Publications.

Thematic Focus: Humanitarian Assistance

Events:

Report launch: Exploring Coordination in Humanitarian Clusters, London, 15 June 2015 [info]
- Will also be livestreamed.

CFPs: World Conference on Humanitarian Studies, Addis Ababa, 5-8 March 2015 [info]
- NOTE: This conference has been *postponed*; it was originally scheduled to take place in October. The new deadlines for submitting panel and paper proposals are as follows: 1 Oct. 2015 for panels, 25 Dec. 2015 for papers.

Publications:

An ‘Almost Impossible Job’: 10 Tips for the UN's Next Humanitarian Boss (IRIN, May 2015) [text]

Global Forum for Improving Humanitarian Action, New York, 4-5 June 2015 [info]
- Follow link for several presentations, a detailed agenda, briefing papers, and other related information.

Humanitarian Assistance from Non-state Donors (Global Humanitarian Assistance, May 2015) [text]

The Innovation Racket (Acting, Fast & Slow Blog, May 2015) [text]

Secretary-General Appoints High-Level Panel on Humanitarian Financing (UN, May 2015) [text]
- See also related IPS news story and an IASC update.

UNHCR's Mandate in Relation to Assistance to Refugees and Other People of Concern (UNHCR, June 2015) [text]

What Do We Know about the Long-term Legacy of Aid Programmes? Very Little, So Why Not Go and Find Out? (From Poverty to Power Blog, May 2015) [text]

Which Way is up? Flatpacks Alone Can't Solve Global Shelter Crisis (IRIN, May 2015) [text]

Related post:
- Thematic Focus: Humanitarian Assistance (11 May 2015)

Tagged Publications and Events & Opportunities. 

Thematic Focus: General, esp. UNHCR

Durable Solutions to Displacement: Exploring the Roles of Development, Humanitarian and Peacebuilding Actors (Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, Nov. 2013) [text]

Note on the Mandate of the High Commissioner for Refugees and His Office (UNHCR, Oct. 2013) [text]

Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - Part I: Covering the Period 1 January 2012-30 June 2013, UN Doc. No. A/68/12 (Part I) (UN General Assembly, 2013) [text]

Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees - Part II: Strategic Review Pursuant to General Assembly Resolution 58/153, UN Doc. No. A/68/12 (Part II) (UN General Assembly, 2013) [text]
- Note: This is UNHCR's first decennial review "of the global situation of refugees and the role of the Office." In presenting the report to the Third Committee of the UNGA, the HC noted that "the number of persons of concern to the agency had doubled in the last 10 years... ."

Survival Migration: Failed Governance and the Crisis of Displacement, Oxford, 16 Oct. 2013 [info]
- Follow link for podcast.

Under the Radar: Internally Displaced Persons in Non-Camp Settings (Brookings-LSE Project on Internal Displacement, Oct. 2013) [text]

UNHCR – A Humanitarian Organization with a Mandate to Protect Civilians in Refugee Camps (Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies Blog, Oct. 2013) [text]
- Note: The author has a book due to be published next month entitled Protecting Civilians in Refugee Camps: Unable and Unwilling States, UNHCR and International Responsibility (Brill).

Tagged Publications. 

New Issue of IJRL

The latest issue of the International Journal of Refugee Law (IJRL) is now available.  Contents for vol. 25, no. 2, June 2013 include:

• Editorial: Interesting Times: 2002–13 [free full-text]
• The Next Frontier: Expanding Protection in Europe for Victims of Armed Conflict and Indiscriminate Violence [free full-text]
• Protecting Recognized Geneva Convention Refugees outside their States of Asylum [abstract]
• Reflections on Refoulement and Collective Expulsion in the Hirsi Case [abstract]
• Do the Facts Speak for Themselves? Country of Origin Information in French and British Refugee Status Determination Procedures [abstract] [workshop paper]

A number of presentations from the "Roundtable Discussion with the IARLJ, the ECtHR and the CJEU on Leading Asylum Cases" are also reproduced, as well as a document on the human rights responsibilities of Frontex.

Tagged Periodicals and Events & Opportunities. 

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.

Tagged Publications. 

Focus on UNHCR

In light of UNHCR's 60th anniversary, the organization will no doubt serve as the subject of more studies. Here are a few that popped up on my radar screen recently:

"Climate Change and Institutional Change in UNHCR," chapter in Climate Change and Migration: Rethinking Policies for Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction, pp. 104-116 (UNU & Munich Re, April 2011) [text]

"The Misrepresentation of Refugees: Effects on Protracted Refugee Situations," Undercurrent: The Canadian Undergraduate Journal of Development Studies, vol. 8, no. 1 (Spring/Summer 2011) [full-text]

- Scroll to p. 68 of the journal.

"'Mopping-up': UNHCR, Neutrality and Non-Refoulement since the Cold War," Chinese Journal of International Law, Advance Access, 27 July 2011 [info]

The Perilous Path of the UNHCR (e-IR, July 2011) [text]

UNHCR and the Protection Mandate (World Politics Review, Feb. 2011) [info]

Tagged Publications.