Main Debate

• When is cessation of refugee status appropriate and what procedures must be adhered to in order to ensure that the individual’s rights are not violated?

Main Point

• Principles of international law and principles of domestic law pertaining to administrative fairness determine whether cessation in fact applies. This often involves complex issues of fact and law.

Readings

Core

1. UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on International Protection: Cessation of Refugee Status under Article 1C(5) and (6) of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees’, UN/HCR/GIP/03/03,10 February 2003.
2. K. McMillan, ‘Uganda’s Invocation of Cessation regarding its Rwandan Refugee Caseload: Lessons for International Protection’, International Journal of Refugee Law, vol. 24, no. 2, (2012), pp. 231-262.
3. UNHCR, ‘Implementation of the Comprehensive Strategy for the Angolan Refugee Situation, including UNHCR's Recommendations on the Applicability of the "ceased circumstances cessation clauses’, 15 January 2012.
4. UNHCR, ‘Implementation of the Comprehensive Strategy for the Liberian Refugee Situation, including UNHCR's Recommendations on the Applicability of the "ceased circumstances" cessation clauses’, 13 January 2012.
5. UNHCR, ‘Implementation of the Comprehensive Strategy for the Rwandan Refugee Situation, including UNHCR's Recommendations on the Applicability of the "ceased circumstances" cessation clauses’, 31 December 2011.
6. UNHCR, ‘Note on Suspension of "General Cessation" Declarations in Respect of Particular Persons or Groups Based on Acquired Rights to Family Unity’, December 2011.
7. UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on Exemption Procedures in respect of Cessation Declarations’, December 2011.

Extended

1. T. Schreier, ‘Cessation of Refugee Status’ in F. Khan and T. Schreier (eds), Refugee Law in South Africa, (Cape Town: Juta, 2014).