The refugee crisis (Legal and political implications)

Abstract

During tlie recent years, the world has experienced severe human rights abuses and many conflicts that turned into violence, which consequently produced massive refugee flows. As the numbers increased to crisis levels, the international community started to adopt a new approach to refugee issues. Today, refugees are no longer considered as a humanitarian concern, but as a global problem with legal and political implications As well as presenting a historical overview of the existing international refugee regime, and pointing out to the challenges facing the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as the core organization in this regime, this thesis aims to underline the nature of the refugee problem in the post-Cold War era and its implications on international politics.