Refugee Issues in International Law: A Case Study of Taiwan

• Main Authors: Hsiang-Yu Liu, 劉祥裕
• Other Authors: Wen-Chen Chang
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2018
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/47d2eh

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 法律學研究所 === 107 === On account of the rise of civil wars and climate change, the issue of refugee has once become a controversial and urgent topic in the 21st century. The norms that specifically apply to the refugee issue to date can be mainly traced back to the horrific experiences that occurred during World War II. However, it is disputable if these norms still can be applied to the emerging refugee issue over the last decades. In addition to the norms specialized in the refugee issue, the international human right laws also should be considered with the development of human right spirits. The international human right laws are getting stronger and flourish thanks to their own structure for evolving further. Based on human right spirits, refugees cannot be harshly excluded from the application of the international human rights laws. From my perspective, the international refugee laws should be applied in accordance with the international human rights laws. Furthermore, the rights that are not guaranteed in the refugee laws can be inherently protected according to the international human rights laws. I will apply the transnational legal process theory to illustrate the similarity of the contexts where the two legal systems have arisen and point out the actors which are involved in the law-making process of the two legal systems. As one member in the international society, Taiwan can no longer stay out of the emerging refugee issue. Yet, due to the political status of Taiwan, the challenges faced by Taiwan are quite different from what others are confronting. Taiwan is blocked from the international society and thus lacks the capacity to sign the international treaties. However, this does not imply that Taiwan has nothing to do with the refugee issue. In 2009, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights both have been incorporated into the legal system in Taiwan by means of the implementation act. I suggest that the Two Covenants should be applicable to the refugee and thus Taiwanese government is obligated to take action in response to the refugee issue. Also, through the lens of the transnational legal process theory, the actors involved in the law-making process in Taiwan are manifested and the contribution the actors made can be linked to the final result.