WORKSHOP: Refugee Protection Outside of the International Legal Framework: Expanding Cross-National and Cross-Disciplinary Collaborations, Northwestern University, May 15-17, 2014

世界上80%的难民在非民主国家或没有签署1951年《保护难民国际公约》和1967年《议定书》的国家寻求庇护，这些国家没有执行立法，或者即使有这种立法，也不给予难民公约所界定的难民权利。在西北大学举行的为期两天的研讨会将邀请研究人员、从业人员和决策者参加，讨论理论和实践问题、应吸取的教训以及在这些州实现保护的战略。 讲习班的目的是推动在《难民公约》框架之外关于难民地位的规则或法律的意义的理论化，解决关于难民和国际难民宣传网络如何调动国际和国内法的经验性难题，并确定关于国家机构如何界定、调解和应对难民法律的关切的有希望的调查路线。这些影响对于建立有关机构的法律的动员和决策的理论，对于理解难民地位确定过程本身构成难民生活的条件，都是至关重要的。研讨会上的研究成果将有助于规划《难民公约》严格参数之外的未来保护工作，并将为向无法获得国家庇护地位的难民提供替代地位和保护程序的努力提供信息。讲习班将提供一份背景研究报告，为这一领域今后的研究奠定基础。 将特别注意衡量成果和了解不批准《难民公约》的决定对难民保护和当地融合的影响的方法。 掌握这些知识将有助于美国努力为世界各地的难民、冲突或自然灾害受害者和无国籍人提供可持续的解决办法。

Eighty percent of the world's refugees seek asylum in non-democratic states or states that have not signed the 1951 International Convention for the Protection of Refugees and 1967 Protocol, do not have implementing legislation or, if they have such legislation, do not grant refugees rights as defined by the Refugee Convention. A two-day workshop at Northwestern University will engage researchers, practitioners and policy makers about the theoretical and practical issues, the lessons to be learned and the strategies for achieving protection in these states. The workshop is designed to advance theorizing about the meanings of rules or laws governing refugee status outside of the Refugee Convention framework, address empirical puzzles regarding how refugees and international refugee advocacy networks mobilize international and national law, and identify promising lines of inquiry regarding how national institutions define, mediate and respond to refugee legal concerns. These impacts are central to theory-building concerning legal mobilization and decision making by institutions, and to understanding the conditions under which the refugee status determination process itself structures refugees' lives. The research advanced at the workshop will assist in mapping the future of protection outside strict Refugee Convention parameters, and will inform efforts to provide alternative statuses and processes of protection to refugees who are unable to access national asylum status. The workshop will provide a background study that will lay the foundation for future research in this area. Special attention will be given to methodologies for measuring outcomes and for understanding the effects of decisions not to ratify the Refugee Convention on refugee protection and local integration. Having such knowledge will contribute to United States efforts to provide sustainable solutions for refugees, victims of conflict or natural disaster, and stateless people around the world.