Role of humanitarian law in protecting the rights of the refugees and asylum seekers for humanitarian obligation with special reference to ‘refugees policy’ in Indian context in the present-day scenario

Abstract

One-third billion people of worldwide live outside their country, most of them are migrants. One-tenth of them, though, are refugees and asylum seekers. They are fleeing political persecution and other acute threats. Most refugees go to neighboring countries for their own, in part so that they can return home when circumstances change. The work of protecting refugees and asylum seekers is carried out by a vast array of organizations. Some are public, others private, some are global, others grassroots. The International Refugee Regime, under the guiding hand of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), has proven adept at providing life-saving assistance in response to emergencies but has been challenged to provide meaningful opportunities for the long-term displaced or support the communities hosting them. Compounding the challenges, it faces is the retreat of many advanced democracies which rising anti-immigrant sentiment. Established by the 1951 convention and its 1967 protocol, the regime envisioned refugee status as a temporary one for people who fear or have suffered persecution on the basis of race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group, or political opinion and by means of a result require protection until they can return to their countries of origin, gain permanent residency in the country to which they have fled, or be resettled in a third country. The current state of the international refugee regime provides us with tried and tested tools to address them. The present article considers role of humanitarian law in protecting refugees and asylum seekers and their implications in the area of refugee protection. It also surveys the human rights of refugees in India and gives a brief account of the impact which human rights principles have made on the current programs and policies of UNHCR and the increasing involvement of human rights bodies in matters relating to refugees.