Part 3 Protection, 9 International Protection

Abstract

This chapter assesses international protection. The lack or denial of protection is a principal feature of refugee character, and it is for international law, in turn, to substitute its own protection for that which the country of origin cannot or will not provide. Non-refoulement is the foundation stone of international protection. The first intergovernmental arrangements on behalf of refugees were contemporaneous with the establishment of various international institutions charged with their implementation. The chapter then looks at the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), and other organizations and agencies. It also considers the protection of groups of refugees who face particular vulnerabilities, including women refugees, child refugees, and refugees with disabilities. Each group is protected by one or more particular human rights treaties, which recognize their rights, and members of these groups are often subject to discrimination or otherwise marginalized.