Matthew Lister Refugee, And The Definition Of Refugees

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Refugee is an important term and concept existing in international studies. In order to understand the problems confronting refugees, we must first know the definition and the concept of refugee.
According to Matthew Lister, he does not accept broader definition of refugee. Instead, Lister stands with the core elements of refugee definition which was established in the 1967 Protocol to the United Nations Convention Refugee Convention (Lister, 2013). The definition has given specific characteristics for the chosen group whereby refugee protection is appropriate for them. A broader refugee definition may cause problems.
He defends what he calls a ‘wide reading of a narrow definition’ of refugees. Basically, he argues that a suitably wide reading …show more content…

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All of the major terms in this definition are legal terms, which had been studied based on law by various courts and by the UNHCR. Lister does not argue the well-established meanings of these terms, but he argues the terms can be read in a broad way. By this, we can understand much of the traditional jurisprudence, which is important to ensure refugees get the protection they …show more content…

Those who do not fear persecution are not considered in this definition, for instance, people escaping from natural disasters, because they do not have a fear of persecution. In addition, even though the individuals do face persecution, they are not considered as refugees if they are not ‘on the basis of’ of one of the protected grounds. Even those who face persecution on the basis of a protected ground, they cannot be declared as refugees because they are not outside their country of citizenship. The most controversial notion is that those who have been driven from their homes but who have not crossed international borders, so-called ‘Internally Displaced Persons’ (IDPs), are not in the definition of refugee, even though they have all the characteristics of a refugee except that they have not crossed an international border. The UNHCR has played their part in helping such persons in the last thirty or so years, but has still not considered them as refugees which makes them hard to have full benefits of what refugees should get. Hence, Lister aims to portray that these restrictions have a rational

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