Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Table of cases
- Table of statutes
- Preface to the second edition
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Historical context to migration
- 2 Immigration control: an overview
- 3 Basic migration legislation and policy
- 4 The visa system and application procedures
- 5 Family and interdependency migration and other Australia-based visas
- 6 Business and investment visas
- 7 Skill-based visas
- 8 Temporary visas
- 9 Miscellaneous visas
- 10 Common visa requirements
- 11 Compliance: unlawful non-citizens, removal and deportation
- 12 History of the refugees convention and definitional framework
- 13 Refugee and humanitarian visas: the statutory structure
- 14 Convention grounds
- 15 Persecution
- 16 Well-founded fear of persecution
- 17 Limits on protection of refugees – cessation, exclusion exceptions and protection by another country
- 18 Time for a fundamental re-think: need as the criterion for assistance
- 19 The determination and review process for migration and refugee decisions
- Index
12 - History of the refugees convention and definitional framework
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Table of cases
- Table of statutes
- Preface to the second edition
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Historical context to migration
- 2 Immigration control: an overview
- 3 Basic migration legislation and policy
- 4 The visa system and application procedures
- 5 Family and interdependency migration and other Australia-based visas
- 6 Business and investment visas
- 7 Skill-based visas
- 8 Temporary visas
- 9 Miscellaneous visas
- 10 Common visa requirements
- 11 Compliance: unlawful non-citizens, removal and deportation
- 12 History of the refugees convention and definitional framework
- 13 Refugee and humanitarian visas: the statutory structure
- 14 Convention grounds
- 15 Persecution
- 16 Well-founded fear of persecution
- 17 Limits on protection of refugees – cessation, exclusion exceptions and protection by another country
- 18 Time for a fundamental re-think: need as the criterion for assistance
- 19 The determination and review process for migration and refugee decisions
- Index
Summary
History of the convention
We commence our discussion of refugee law by providing a brief overview of the instruments underpinning refugee law in Australia. This provides insight into the development of the legal definition of a ‘refugee’ and the objectives of the parties involved in framing the definition. This potentially plays an important role in understanding the nature and scope of refugee law.
International refugee law is principally governed by the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees as modified by the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (hereafter together referred to as the Convention). The Convention provides a definition of a refugee and confers a number of rights and protections to persons falling within this definition.
The origins of the Convention can be traced back to the early twentieth century. Prior to this time, customary international law imposed an obligation on states to protect their own nationals only. This obligation did not extend to individuals from other nations who found themselves within the borders of a state. States had the discretion to accept immigrants whom they perceived would contribute to the economy or society in a positive way, and to expel refugees under the assumption that the right to do so was inherent in a state's sovereign powers.
During the inter-war years of 1919–1939, numerous violent conflicts and political problems in Europe and the Middle East led to the displacement of large numbers of people.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Migration and Refugee LawPrinciples and Practice in Australia, pp. 170 - 175Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2008