The international refugee protection regime and the role of the UN Refugee Agency: Globalisation of humanitarian operations and the changing nature of UNHCR today

The Algerian War of Independence (1954-62) and resulting mass forced displacement across North Africa marked a key turning point in shaping the global refugee protection regime. As the first operationalisation of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) outside Europe, it laid the foundations for the global humanitarian actor we now know today. This seminar probes the impact of this moment on how we understand UNHCR’s changing role across the globe. 

This session is part of the 15th International Refugee Law Seminar Series: Moments in Refugee History and the Development of the Modern Refugee Regime: Understanding refugee law and policy today

This seminar series probes key thematic issues relating to the law and policy of refugee protection today, using important – and often less-recognised – moments in refugee history to further our understandings of developments in these fields. 

By providing a forum for scholars of history and contemporary refugee law and policy to engage, the cross-disciplinary series will explore the enduring legacies of key geo-political events and processes such as nationalism, colonialism, and capitalism, in the evolution of the today’s refugee regime. 

This series is convened by the Refugee Law Initiative in collaboration with Refugee History.