Legal Implications of Preventing Forced Migration in Transitional Societies

This course intends to explore the legal and practical issues of forced migration in societies undergoing political and economic transition with particular regard to developing strategies and approaches which prevent such population movements. The course will provide a general introduction to the international legal system as a framework in which international migration and refugee law operates. The Refugee Convention and Protocol and other instruments will be analysed in more depth and will be critically assessed in light of the changing nature of population movements in recent years. Civil and international conflict and post-conflict situations, economic rupture and remedial population transfers will be considered with attention being paid to possible, necessary legal reforms which ensure adequate protection for forced migrants. The last segment of the course will focus on preventative approaches to forced migration, including: human rights monitoring and enforcement; peacekeeping, peacemaking and conflict management; and economic development. Two case studies, the 1996 CIS Conference on migration-related matters and the 1995 Dayton Peace Accords, will be used as practical examples of the problems and approaches to forced migration in transitional societies.