Solemn anniversaries: The UN Refugee Convention turns 75

That grand old thing is getting on a bit.  Still significant and still functioning wearily, the United Nations Refugee Convention of 1951 has suffered abuse, subversion and neglect from state parties.  At times, it is only honoured in the breach.  At other times, it is not honoured at all.  After three-quarters of a century, it is easy to forget the hot ideal that streaks through the document: that it contains, as Christopher Bentram aptly remarks, “a kind of substitute citizenship” for those who have left their country of origin and find their bonds “broken by the threat of prosecution.”  It was the first of its kind to expand the focus of protection beyond narrowly designated groups.  (Consider, in this regard […]