ABSTRACT
In international law, refugees are defined as persons who due to a “well-founded fear of persecution” flee their country of nationality, and crossing an internationally recognised border, become eligible for international protection. This rationale for eligibility for international protection has since been expanded by regional redefinitions that recognise also persons fleeing significant human rights violations to which they have no domestic remedy. 1 International protection seeks to provide physical and legal protection, as well as a commitment to search for ‘durable solutions.’ The three classic solutions to refugeehood applied by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are voluntary repatriation (return to the country of origin/nationality), local integration (in the country of asylum) and resettlement (to a third country).
