UNHCR Protection Manual - Related sources

This paper provides a comprehensive overview of the different frameworks for considering how refugees might participate in their country of nationality whilst still refugees, setting out the international law as it applies to those refugees and the operationalization of interoperability within the UN as UNHCR seeks to provide permanent solutions by assisting governments. It needs to be noted that in practice there will be a host of non-legal factors that will have an impact on the participation of refugees in the political processes in the country of asylum.

The present study examines inter alia: the international and regional standards and related jurisprudence underpinning the right to family life and family unity of refugees and other beneficiaries of international protection in the context of family reunification; legal challenges securing family reunification faced by beneficiaries of international protection, including the family definition applied, documentation, income, accommodation, and other requirements, such as to apply within a period of time to benefit from preferential terms, or only after a certain period of residence, and related international, regional and national jurisprudence and practice; practical challenges faced by beneficiaries of international protection, including lack of timely information, difficulties accessing embassies and obtaining visas and travel documentation, costs involved, administrative delays and obstacles, and related international, regional and national jurisprudence and practice.

This research paper examines: the legal basis in international and regional law for the right to family life and family unity, including the principle of non-discrimination; the jurisprudence of international and regional courts on the issue; States’ obligations and responsibilities regarding the right to family life and family unity; the varying definitions of family applied in international and regional law and practice, including different persons accepted as able to be family members by international bodies and regional courts; the family definition applied by UNHCR; and the concept of dependency as an aid to determining family membership.

This paper draws on the contemporary practice around Article 31 by States parties to the 1951 Refugee Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol, clarifying where those interpretations are correct, and where State practice appears to depart from the obligations in Article 31. The aim of the paper is ultimately to inform UNHCR when developing guidelines on Article 31.