Purpose
Characteristics and Objectives of the AWR.
The Association for the Study of the World Refugee Problem is a non-governmental, international scientific association, which does not work for profit and does not pursue political goals. It was founded in 1951 by scientists and practitioners under the impact of World War II. It promotes the deepening and coordination of research on migration issues. Theoretical and practical answers to questions that were initially related to refugees and migrant workers from Europe are developed in an interdisciplinary and scientifically sound manner. Following a change in its statutes in 1974, the research spectrum now extends to worldwide immigration and, in this context, to the entire field of involuntary and voluntary migration. The results of its analyses, resolutions and recommendations are made available to authorities, governments and international organizations.
Scientific exchange takes place at conferences and colloquia.
The AWR was the first and is thus the oldest association dedicated to this field of research.
Organizationally, it is divided into national sections. Outside the sections, it cooperates with correspondents from individual countries.
Demands Implemented and Not Yet Implemented
The AWR’s call for the protection of refugee children through an international convention was included in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child of July 10, 1992 and in the European Convention on the Exercise of Children’s Rights of January 25, 1996, in force since July 1, 2000.
The so-called Feldkirch Principles for a European Refugee Law of 1988, drawn up by the AWR Working Group on European Refugee Law, were partially taken into account in the Convention determining the EU Member State Responsible for Examining an Application for Asylum Lodged in Pne of the EU Member States of the European Communities (Dublin Convention of 15 June 1990).
The AWR’s demands on the need for European burden-sharing in granting protection to refugees of war and civil war were addressed at the Tampere Summit in 1999. However, a comprehensive solution to the problem has not yet been found.
A number of demands, whose implementation the AWR has called for in resolutions, policy papers and legal opinions, have not yet been met. First and foremost is the anchoring of the right to asylum as a subjective public right in the European Convention on Human Rights.
The demand for a common European asylum law, especially with regard to a far-reaching harmonization of the substantive and procedural provisions, is partially recognizable in the Common European Asylum System.