This book analyses the legal framework for refugee protection in Africa, including both refugee and human rights law as well as treaty and institutional elements. The regime is addressed in two parts.
Part One analyses the relevant treaties: the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, the 1969 Organization of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa and the 1981 African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights. The latter two regional instruments are examined in depth. This includes the first fulsome account of the African Refugee Convention's drafting, an interpretation of its unique refugee definition and original analysis of the relationships between the three treaties. Significant attention is devoted to the systemic relationship between the international and the regional refugee treaties and to the discrete relationships of conflict and complementary relationships between the two refugee instruments, as well as to the relationships between the African Refugee Convention and African Charter.
Part Two focuses on the institutional architecture supporting the treaty framework. The Organization of African Unity is addressed in a historical sense, and the contemporary roles of the African Union, the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and the current and contemplated African human rights courts are examined. This book is the first devoted to the legal framework for refugee protection in Africa.
Industry Reviews
This book makes an outstanding contribution to the refugee protection field and is an invaluable resource for judges, academics and practitioners in refugee law. * Julie Lugulu, Human Rights Review *
The Regional Law of Refugee Protection in Africa raises great expectations in a sparsely populated area of scholarly research. ... [Sharpe's] critical scholarship is vital reading for the legal novice seeking practical engagement with refugees in Africa and for the scholars and judges working through legal issues. * Paul White, International Journal of Refugee Law *
At last, an in-depth analysis of the African theory and practice of refugee protection, which specifically underlines how international and regional human rights law is key to protecting refugees and persons in refugee-like situations. This book is a remarkable contribution to scholarship, bound to become an instant reference classic. * Professor Francois Crepeau, Hans & Tamar Oppenheimer Professor in Public International Law, McGill University, Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants *
We have needed this book for decades. * The Honourable Justice Tujilane R Chizumila, Judge of the African Court on Human and People's Rights *
This important work is the first to exhaustively analyse all regional elements of African refugee law together in one book. It provides rigorous analysis of the 1969 OAU Convention and the role of the African Charter in refugee protection, including a sophisticated account of how these treaties relate to each other and to the 1951 Refugee Convention. It also addresses the regional institutional architecture supportive of this treaty framework, exploring the OAU's historical work to draft its refugee treaty and the AU's contemporary engagement with refugee protection. It is extensively researched, clearly written and persuasively argued. It will be highly useful to both academics and practitioners and will likely come to represent a seminal contribution to the field of refugee law. * Professor Chaloka Beyani, Associate Professor of International Law, London School of Economics, Former UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons *
The monograph makes a significant contribution to the existing literature pertaining to the Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa of 1969. The analysis succeeds very well in illuminating the historical context in which the 1969 Convention came about, while also engaging with its inter-relationship with other treaties relevant to refugee protection. It is a very timely contribution on a topic of seminal importance to the African continent and beyond. * Erika de Wet, SARChI Professor of International Constitutional Law, University of Pretoria and Honorary Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Bonn, Germany *
