Resettlement as Protection

This timely book focuses on one of the so-called “durable solutions to the problem of refugees” that UNHCR has been charged to pursue: resettlement. Resettlement consists of the transfer of refugees from their country of asylum to another state in case of severe protection problems in the country of asylum. States are not obliged to offer resettlement places, and in practice that means that resettlement is run as a discretionary immigration scheme. This book attempts to integrate resettlement in international refugee law.

Key to the analysis is understanding what the need for resettlement means: in essence a second country of asylum. The integration of resettlement in international refugee law does not mean an end to the discretion states have; but once the decision has been taken to process UNHCR resettlement referrals, discretion gives way to the applicability of international (refugee) law. Since it is not included in the main refugee treaties, resettlement has so far never been considered in terms of international refugee law with detrimental consequences for the refugees concerned. This book demonstrates that treating resettlement as an outlier is not only out of sync with the international rule of law, but moreover legally untenable.



Forward-thinking and incisive, Resettlement as Protection is a fundamental resource for students and scholars of international refugee law, international law, human rights and migration. It is also key reading for resettlement practitioners, lawyers, advocates and activists working in the fields of refugee rights and international law.