This module examines the international law dimensions of protecting refugees and other categories of forced migrants. It provides a comprehensive overview of the concepts and workings of international law, in general, and international refugee and human rights law, in particular, as they relate to the phenomenon of forced displacement. While international refugee and human rights law forms the backbone of the course, the module will also cover aspects of international criminal law, international human rights law and international humanitarian law as these apply to refugees and other forced migrants.

The module will start by studying the rationale and development of refugee law up to its codification in the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol. The institutions tasked with overseeing the implementation of these instruments will also be examined, with a particular focus on UNHCR and UNRWA. The study of substantive law, including State practice and case law of national and international courts and Treaty bodies, will follow thereafter in thematic blocs: 1) the ethical roots of refugeehood; 2) the refugee definition (inclusion, exclusion, and cessation of refugee status); 3) the content of international protection and the principle of non-refoulement; 4) extended and complementary forms of protection; 5) war and displacement; 6) the status of Palestinian refugees; 7) the right to asylum and other 'durable solutions'; 8) access to protection and the impact of policies of non-entrée.