Fleeing contemporary armed conflicts in international refugee law: Judicial practice in the European Union

Querton, Christel

Abstract

As the number of forcibly displaced people in the world today is the highest ever recorded and most are fleeing situations of armed conflict and widespread violence, queries regarding the continued relevance of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (‘Refugee Convention’) for international protection need addressing.

This paper demonstrates that appellate authorities in the European Union adopt a conventional warfare perspective when dealing with situations of armed conflicts in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria and thereby fail to interpret the Refugee Convention in light of present-day conditions.

Drawing on feminist and security studies literature, I propose an interdisciplinary approach to interpretation of the refugee definition that better reflects the nature of violence in contemporary armed conflicts, including its gender differentiated impacts. This approach aims to more effectively respond to current protection needs.

• Presentation Conference Type: Presentation / Talk
• Conference Name: McLaughlin College Lunch Talks
• Start Date: Feb 10, 2021
• End Date: Feb 10, 2021
• Deposit Date: Feb 22, 2021
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/7107143
• Publisher URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c4gRAcofvsI&feature=emb_logo