Is the 1951 refugee definition deficient?
The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees has already celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. With just one ‘amending’ and updating Protocol adopted in 1967 it continues as the central feature in today’s international regime of refugee protection. However, the 1951 Convention is often said to be a relic of a bygone era. Signs of decrepitude are identified in its failing focus it’s inability to accommodate the ‘new’ refugees from ethnic violence and gender based persecution; in its deafness to national, regional and international security concerns; in its inflexibility when faced with the changing nature of flight and movement. Hathaway identified various well known problems of interpretation from the refugee definition; e.g. the question of whether the ‘well foundedness’ of an individual’s fear of persecution is to be determined on the basis of subjective and /or objective criteria; to what extent persecution is directed against some members of a group justifies other members
