With more than 18 million refugees worldwide, the refugee problem has fostered an intense debate regarding what political changes are necessary in the international system to provide effective solutions in the 1990s and beyond. In the past, refugees have been perceived largely as a problem of international charity, but as the end of the Cold War triggers new refugee movements across the globe, governments are being forced to develop a more systematic approach to the refugee problem.
Beyond Charity provides the first extensive overview of the world refugee crisis today, asserting...

Over fifty years ago, governments established the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to be a human rights and advocacy organization. This is the first independent history of this highly important establishment. Gil Loescher, one of the world's leading experts on refugee affairs, draws upon decades of personal experience and research to examine the origins and evolution of the UNHCR, identifying many of the major challenges facing the organization in the years ahead. A key focus is the extent to which the evolution of the UNHCR has been framed by the crucial...

Over fifty years ago, governments established the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) to be a human rights and advocacy organization. This is the first independent history of this highly important establishment. Gil Loescher, one of the world's leading experts on refugee affairs, draws upon decades of personal experience and research to examine the origins and evolution of the UNHCR, identifying many of the major challenges facing the organization in the years ahead. A key focus is the extent to which the evolution of the UNHCR has been framed by the crucial...

Protracted refugee populations not only constitute over 70% of the world's refugees but are also a principal source of many of the irregular movements of people around the world today. The long-term presence of refugee populations in much of the developing world has come to be seen by many host states in these regions as a source of insecurity.
In response, host governments have enacted policies of containing refugees in isolated and insecure camps, have prevented the arrival of additional refugees and, in extreme cases, have engaged in forcible repatriation.
Not surprisingly, these...

Of all the humanitarian impulses in world politics today, one of the most widely recognized is the need to protect refuges. However, as this book explores, what on the surface appears to be a simple proposition can quickly become complex and controversial. This complexity results in troubling variation in how we respond to our obligation to protect refugees; while NATO launches a major military intervention on behalf of Albanians in Kosovo amidst worldwide media attention, the international community's response to Sierra Leonean refugees is slow, inefficient and inadequate. Who qualifies as a...

Of all the humanitarian impulses in world politics today, one of the most widely recognized is the need to protect refugees. However, as The Problems of Protection explores, what on the surface appears to be a simple proposition can quickly become complex and controversial. This complexity results in troubling variation in how we respond to our obligation to protect refugees - while NATO launches a major military intervention on behalf of Albanians in Kosovo amidst worldwide media attention, the international community's response to Sierra Leonean refugees is slow, inefficient and...

"Powerful . . . well-documented, well-written, and most informative, ("Calculated Kindness") is . . . for all Americans who wish to better understand the often competing policies and principles that have regulated immigrations practices in the United States."--(Rev.) Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., President, University of Notre Dame.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) exists to protect refugees fleeing persecution. This volume outlines the UNHCR historical evolution and examines the key challenges faced by the organisation as it moves into the 21st century.

Refugee and Forced Migration Studies has grown from being a concern of a relatively small number of scholars and policy researchers in the 1980s to a global field of interest with thousands of students worldwide studying displacement either from traditional disciplinary perspectives or as a core component of newer programmes across the Humanities and Social and Political Sciences. Today the field encompasses both rigorous academic research which may or may not ultimately inform policy and practice, as well as action-research focused on advocating in favour of refugees' needs and rights....