The end of protection

Why this project?

International protection of refugees and other protection holders grants a right to residence in the country of asylum for the duration of risk of persecution or other serious harm.

However, the circumstances in which a state can lawfully mandate the end of protection are not always clear.

What does the current ‘paradigm shift’ mean in terms of international protection? When can a state lawfully end its protection of refugees (cessation) and other protection holders (revocation)? Which different standards apply protection holders other than refugees, notably Article 3 ECHR?

The question of when protection ends is surprisingly under-explored in the literature.

Thus far, scholarship focuses on the cessation of refugee status in mass influx situations; the content of Article 1C(5) Refugee Convention; and the right of states to invoke the cessation clauses.

A forthcoming book on cessation offers an important overview of the state of the art, but does not deal with the end of protection beyond the Refugee Convention.

Research focus

There is thus acute need for further research into the legal standards applicable to the end of protection, with regard to both Convention refugees and subsidiary protection holders.

Against this backdrop, this project investigates the different thresholds on the ending of protection:

• Refugee status under the 1951 Refugee Convention, as reflected in Article 7(1) of the Aliens Act
• Subsidiary protection status under EU and human rights law, as reflected in Article 7(2) of the Aliens Act
• Subsidiary temporary protection status under human rights law, as reflected in Article 7(3) of the Aliens Act.