THE MYTH OF A UNIVERSAL REFUGEE REGIME: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF FRAGMENTATION IN GLOBAL REFUGEE PROTECTION
AUTHOR – YASH PRAKASH* & DR. RAJIV BHARTIYA**
* LLM, ICFAI UNIVERSITY, DEHRADUN.
** ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF LAW, ICFAI UNIVERSITY, DEHRADUN.
BEST CITATION – YASH PRAKASH & DR. RAJIV BHARTIYA, THE MYTH OF A UNIVERSAL REFUGEE REGIME: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF FRAGMENTATION IN GLOBAL REFUGEE PROTECTION, INDIAN JOURNAL OF LEGAL REVIEW (IJLR), 6 (6) OF 2026, PG. 382-396, APIS – 3920 – 0001 & ISSN – 2583-2344.
The international refugee protection system is often described as a universal legal framework built on the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol.[1] This paper challenges that assumption, arguing that this sense of universality is more apparent than real.[2] By comparing refugee protection practices across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, the study shows that the global refugee system is highly fragmented, with significant differences in how protection is provided in different regions.[3] Although the legal norms may appear consistent, their actual implementation is shaped by political priorities, economic capacity, and institutional strength, leading to uneven and often inconsistent outcomes for refugees.[4] The paper ultimately argues that, rather than functioning as a single, coherent regime, the current system operates as a set of regionally distinct frameworks—highlighting the need to rethink how global refugee governance is understood and structured.[5]
[1] Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, July 28, 1951, 189 U.N.T.S. 137; Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, Jan. 31, 1967, 606 U.N.T.S. 267.
[2] B.S. Chimni, The Geopolitics of Refugee Studies: A View from the South, 11 J. Refugee Stud. 350, 351–52 (1998).
[3] Alexander Betts, Survival Migration: Failed Governance and the Crisis of Displacement 23–27 (2013).
[4] James C. Hathaway, The Rights of Refugees Under International Law 3–10 (2d ed. 2021).
[5] Gil Loescher, Alexander Betts & James Milner, The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR): The Politics and Practice of Refugee Protection into the Twenty-First Century 70–75 (2008).