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，这些国家没有实施立法，或者即使有立法，也没有给予《难民公约》规定的难民权利。在西北大学举行的为期两天的研讨会将吸引研究人员、从业人员和政策制定者参与，讨论理论和实践问题、需要吸取的教训以及在这些州实现保护的策略。讲习班的目的是推进关于《难民公约》框架之外管理难民地位的规则或法律含义的理论化，解决有关难民和国际难民倡导网络如何调动国际和国家法律的经验难题，并确定有关国家机构如何界定、调解和回应难民法律问题的有希望的调查路线。这些影响对于建立有关机构的法律动员和决策的理论，以及理解难民地位确定过程本身构成难民生活的条件至关重要。讲习班进行的研究将有助于规划在严格的《难民公约》参数之外的保护的未来，并将为为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。研讨会将提供一个背景研究，为这一领域的未来研究奠定基础。将特别注意衡量成果和了解不批准关于难民保护和融入当地社会的《难民公约》的决定的影响的方法。掌握这些知识将有助于美国努力为世界各地的难民、冲突或自然灾害的受害者以及无国籍人士提供可持续的解决方案。

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.