Asylum-Seeker and Refugee Protection in Sub-Saharan Africa ─ The Peregrination of a Persecuted Human Being in Search of a Safe Haven

It is not often acknowledged that the great majority of African refugee movement happens within Africa rather than from Africa to the West. This book examines the specific characteristics and challenges of the refugee situation in Sub-Saharan Africa, offering a new and critical vision on the situation of asylum-seekers and refugees in the African continent. Cristiano d’Orsi considers the international, regional and domestic legal and institutional frameworks linked to refugee protection in Sub-Saharan Africa, and explores the contributions African refugee protection has brought to the cause on a global scale.

Key issues covered in the book include the theory and the practice of non-refoulement, an analysis of the phenomenon of mass-influx, the concept of burden-sharing, and the role of freedom fighters. The book goes on to examine the expulsions of refugees and the historical role played by UNHCR in Sub-Saharan Africa.

As a work which follows the persecution and legal challenges of those in search of a safe haven, this book will be of great interest and use to researchers and students of immigration and asylum law, international law, human rights, and African studies.

Cristiano d’Orsi, is a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Centre for Human Rights, Faculty of Law at the University of Pretoria.