Part VII The End of Refugeehood—Cessation and Durable Solutions, Ch.58 Refugee Naturalization and Integration

Subject(s):

Citizenship — Asylum — Refugees

Refugees' access to citizenship of their host country is key to their integration. Manifesting full and equal permanent political community membership, citizenship entails cessation of refugee status, pursuant to Article 1C(3) of the Refugee Convention. Yet the 2018 ‘Global Compact on Refugees’ omitted naturalization and 'local' integration from its list of objectives, merely describing ‘durable legal status and naturalization’ as ‘useful’. Globally, citizenship regimes vary widely, with direct ramifications for refugees’ access thereto; meanwhile. The Chapter highlights a ‘global north’/’global south’ divide regarding naturalization practices, situating then within an international law framework in which host countries remain (the) ultimate gatekeepers. The Chapter argues it is unhelpful to describes forms of integration that do not offer pathways to naturalization as ‘durable’, given that many refugees find themselves in protracted displacement with neither a ‘durable solution in sight nor the legal, economic, and social capacity to properly integrate in their asylum countries.