‘Whose Security? UNHCR, Refugee Protection and State Security after the Cold War’

Abstract

The article discusses the conceptual transformation within UNHCR towards a 'security discourse' in the 1990s. The article first outlines the post-Cold War context in which this discourse evolved; this context was characterized by the increasing hostility displayed by refugee host states towrds refugees and by the inclusion of refugee movements on the post-Cold War security agenda. The article then analyses the contents of UNHCR's security discourse and notes how the refugee agency attempts to reconcile its concern with the security and stability of refugee host states, on the one hand, and the safety and dignity of the refugee individual, on the other, by merging the two in the concept of 'human security'. The article concludes by discussing some problems raised by UNHCR's reliance on this controversial concept