Guy S. Goodwin-Gill

Refugees : Challenges to protection

By the end of the year 2000, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees will have been in existence for 50 years –which is probably some sort of record for an organization originally set up with just a three-year mandate. There were many reasons for so limiting the successor agency to the International Refugee Organization, but it is doubtful whether anyone seriously thought that refugee problems would be resolved so quickly, or indeed that UNHCR would develop into the highly operational, visible and extensively funded entity that we see today. Fifty years of experience nevertheless suggests that it is high time for an audit, for an evaluation of strengths, weaknesses and achievements, and a little strategic thinking about the future.

International law and the detention of refugees and asylum seekers.

The detention of refugees and asylum-seekers throughout the world remained a most serious issue, currently affecting thousands of individuals. This article examines national concepts, powers and practices of detention and contrasts these with individual rights of refugees and asylum-seekers under international law.

Free movement of persons in Europe : legal problems and experiences

Part 1 Report and comments: abolition of border controls Schengen Information System, privacy and legal protection cooperation in the field of criminal law, police and other law enforcement agencies cooperation between fiscal and customs authorities cooperation in the field of aliens law human rights and free movement of persons institutional problems and free movement of persons free movement of various categories of persons. Part 2 Documentation: the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985 the Schengen Convention of 19 June 1990 Treaty on European Union Agreement on the European Economic Area.

Basic humanitarian principles applicable to non-nationals.

This article seeks to: 1) examine the general status in international law of certain fundamental human rights, to determine the minimum “no derogation” standards; and 2) survey briefly a number of formal agreements between states governing migration matters, while examining some of the standard-setting work undertaken by the International Labor Organization and other institutions. Finally, certain conclusions will be drawn regarding the content and administration of the relevant law, in the light of the requirement to ensure the effective and efficient implementation of international legal obligations.

Child Soldiers: The Role of Children in Armed Conflicts.@@@Conference on the Rights of Children in Armed Conflict: Final Report of a Conference held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on 20-21 June 1994.

This study assesses the status in international law of children who are recruited to fight in conflicts throughout the world. It highlights the ways in which international humanitarian law fails to provide effective protection, particularly in the internal conflicts which are the most common battlefields today. Based upon empirical data gathered from places of conflict all over the world, the authors examine the consequences for child soldiers, their families and communities of their participation in armed conflict. They conclude their study with practical suggestions for preventing recruitment, and call for a more coherent policy of treatment for those children who have participated in acts of violence.