This article discusses the difficulties and dilemmas involved in managing the question of refugees in the contemporary world order. With this goal in mind, we discuss the institutional evolution of the norms and organizations that make up the international regime for refugees, elaborated within the ambit of the United Nations (UN) since the end of the Second World War. Throughout our presentation, we identify the origins of some of the problems that continue to affect the issue of how refugees are dealt with and highlight recent factors that add new difficulties to the regime's functioning. Finally, we conclude that the first challenges that must be confronted are related to the institutional design of the international organization, especially its mandate and sources of financing. Furthermore, in our understanding, the regime should be strengthened in order to deal more effectively with the problems that refugees experience today. Yet we also recognize that there are political obstacles that make it difficult to re-open the debate on necessary changes in this international regime. The reformulation process should follow a route which promotes the shared responsibility of the diverse actors on the international scene, in order to include not only the UN but also States and global civil society.
refugees; ACNUR; international organizations; international regimes
