Extending the Limits or Narrowing the Scope? Deconstructing the Oau Refugee Definition Thirty Years on
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6222151 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Micah Bond Rankin |
| Year | 2005 |
| Volume | 21 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 406-435 |
| Publication date | 2005-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | South African Journal on Human Rights (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0258-7203 • E-ISSN: 1996-2126 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/19962126.2005.11865141 |
| OpenAlex | W3124494292 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 10 |
The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) Refugee Convention is recognised as having extended the conventional concept of a refugee beyond the narrower scope of the 1951 Refugee Convention. Yet, while the OAU definition of refugee has been praised for its broader scope, relatively little effort has been made to subject it to a rigorous interpretative analysis. Instead, scholarship has tended to minimise a number of serious interpretive difficulties posed by the definition. The result is an `interpretive consensus' that suggests that three fundamental characteristics differentiate it from the 1951 definition: first, the OAU definition is objective rather than subjective; second, it does not require a specific type of harm or cause of flight; and third, it was primarily designed and intended to be applied to the context of group displacements. On closer examination, this consensus appears untenable and may be harmful to the broader goal of refugee protection. This article reviews existing scholarship on the OAU definition and provides a clause-by-clause analysis of the OAU definition in light of contemporary international refugee law
Political science · Refugee · Sociology · Computer Science · Gender Studies · Human Rights and Development · International Law and Aviation · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration
Principles of public international law
Conference papers. Thirty years on
Refugee Movements in Africa and the OAU Convention on Refugees
Refugee Definition in Africa and Latin America
Refugees and Civil Wars
Principles and Criteria for the Protection of and Assistance to Central American Refugees, Returnees and Displaced Persons in Latin America
Flight in times of war
On the Threshold of Africa
African Exodus
African Refugees and the Law
| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,36 |
| Citation span | 2012 - 2023 (12) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |