A numbers game: counting refugees and international burden-sharing

The United Nations Refugee Convention recognises that the problem of refugees is inherently international and cannot be solved by a single State alone. Yet achieving international cooperation, or even achieving consensus on what this means, has had a long and chequered history. Moreover, debates on international cooperation (or responsibility- or burden-sharing) regularly involve 'counting' refugees and asylum-seekers. Who bears the biggest burden? And who is responsible for easing the burden? It’s a numbers game. This lecture will examine the many ways in which a focus on asylum statistics has impacted on the international protection regime for refugees, and what needs to be done about it.