Bridging the Gap Between Refugee Rights and Reality: a Proposal for Developing International Duties in the Refugee Context

Abstract

The international refugee regime contains a gap between the rights it promises and the responsibility it assigns to make those rights reality. This is particularly problematic because many receiving states are unwilling or unable to protect refugees and manage refugee flows within their territory. Under a territorial paradigm of state duty, this leaves enormous problems for which no state bears responsibility. This article describes the refugee regime's present inability to cope with refugee flows, proposing as a partial solution an international, rather than a territorial, paradigm of duty. It first argues that the refugee regime already in place supports such an international paradigm and then proposes principles for defining the scope of the international duty. Finally, it discusses strategic reasons for states to assume international responsibility even absent legal compulsion.