Migration and Refugees

Introduction

On December 6, 2012, the world’s first regional treaty on internal displacement came into force. Adopted in Kampala, Uganda, during an October 2009 Special Summit of Heads of State and Government on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons in Africa, the African Union Convention on the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (the “Kampala Convention”) has been signed by thirty-six African states and ratified by fifteen.[1]

Introduction

Between 2007 and 2009, Italy and Libya (then under the rule of Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi) concluded several agreements to combat clandestine immigration. Pursuant to these agreements, Italy instated a policy of sending undocumented migrants and asylum seekers who had crossed the Mediterranean Sea from Africa back to Libya. In a number of cases, boats were intercepted on the high seas, and those on board were taken back to Libya without a prior individualized assessment of their situation and protection needs.

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I. Introduction

Is the unilateral declaration of independence by the Provisional Institutions of Self-Government of Kosovo in accordance with international law? The International Court of Justice (ICJ or Court) answered this question in the affirmative in a groundbreaking decision issued on July 22, 2010. The Court held that the declaration was not prohibited by general international law nor by any specific sources of international law.

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