UNHCR and international refugee protection

This paper was originally given as the opening and closing addresses of the Refugee Studies Centre’s Summer School in 1998. McNamara discusses fundamental policy dilemmas that UNHCR will confront in the twenty-first century and suggests possible directions for moving forward. Most of these issues became prominent during the post-Cold War period when UNHCR was expected to ensure reasonable standards of refugee protection in a context characterised by increased internal conflicts and difficulties with the state-centred institution of asylum. Goodwin-Gill follows on this theme with suggestions on how to make the ‘culture of protection’ relevant again. He offers his reflections on the possibility of adopting a principled and pragmatic approach to refugee protection.