LAW 7792 - Refugees and Aliens in International Law

This course will provide an overview of the international law relating to the protection of refugees, while also considering that particular body of law within the broader framework of the international law relating to aliens. We will commence with an examination of the historical origins of refugee law, and the evolution of the current refugee regime. We will then analyze the key concepts that structure the refugee regime; while our principal focus will be on US policy and jurisprudence, we will also examine the policies and practices of other jurisdictions such as the European Union. The refugee regime will also be compared to other regimes also dealing with aliens, such as the regime relating to migrant workers. The last part of the course will consider the various challenges that refugee law now confronts, as a result of various other inter-connected forces in the international system-such as poverty, terrorism, globalization and migration.