RSC Public Seminar Series, Hilary Term, 11 March 2026
About this talk
Achieving a more fair and equitable sharing of refugee protection responsibilities between states has been a perennial challenge of the global refugee regime. The Refugee Convention did not codify a legal obligation of responsibility sharing and as a result any assistance to refugee host states remains voluntary. This responsibility sharing gap has in turn negatively impacted on the quality of refugee protection and on interstate relations by exacerbating existing inequalities undermining the fairness of the international refugee law regime.
Dr Mavropoulou offers a pragmatic yet principled solution to the responsibility sharing gap. She puts down a detailed proposal for the long-resisted UN Protocol on Responsibility Sharing which would codify a light package of responsibility sharing obligations by requiring states to contribute to refugee protection and solutions under a framework of common but differentiated responsibilities based on capabilities. Building on the Global Compact on Refugees and drawing inspiration from international climate change law, she makes a compelling case for further multilateral law making.
About the speaker
Elizabeth Mavropoulou, Ph.D. (2021), is a Lecturer in International Law at the University of Westminster. Elizabeth researches and publishes in the fields of international refugee and human rights law. Her research has focused on international cooperation on refugees, externalisation of asylum and the protection of human rights at sea. She had held visiting lecturer positions at University of Westminster and at the School of Advanced Legal Studies, University of London. Before joining academia full time, she worked eights years for a human rights NGO, leading its research and advocacy work and overseeing its programmes. She currently sits on the advisory board of the NGO Human Rights at Sea, as Non-Executive Director (NED).