Foreign experience in determining the status of refugees and internally displaced persons

Abstract

This article explores the problem of determining the status of refugees and internally displaced persons in the countries of the European Union. Due to the increasing problem of internal involuntary displacement in other countries an understanding of the need to develop common approaches to solving the problems of persons displaced within their own countries and providing the sovereign states with international assistance in this area has gradually formed. It is noted that the legislation on refugees and internally displaced persons is quite developed in many Western European countries. The definition of a «refugee» concept is given in the Refugee Convention of 1951, currently incorporated into the domestic law of a significant number of states. The authors argue that the legal status of refugees has an international nature; in this case a negative decision on the recognition of any refugee status does not release another country to which he/she refers to consider the request for such recognition. The EU migration policy has been characterized by the following provisions: the absence of any obstacles for the movement of EU citizens within the EU common borders; the introduction of common standards of treatment of citizens of other countries entering the EU, creating tough immigration rules in relation to refugees and persons seeking asylum, and the formation of a common procedure for the recognition of their status; the adoption of common European measures to combat and prevent illegal migration. Europe is becoming increasingly closed. A supranational principle of this regulation collides with the provisions of the Convention on the Status of Refugees of 1951. It is emphasized that there has been increasing efforts to provide people with the status of refugees and internally displaced persons in Europe. The authors conclude that European countries actively integrate the provisions of the international law governing the legal status of refugees and internally displaced persons into their domestic law.

Keywords

• внутрішньопереміщені особи
• біженці
• державна міграційна політика
• правовий статус