Olivia Lwabukuna

Movement of People Across States Under International Law: the Case of Refugees in Southern Africa Olivia Lwabukuna

The book discusses the phenomenon of refugee-hood within the Southern African context. It specifically addresses the political and legal aspects of dealing with refugees in selected Southern African States. The movement of people across state borders represents a problematic area under international law. There are varied economic, political and natural situations in different parts of the world, especially in Africa, that have contributed immensely towards the displacement of people. This book intends to examine how refugees have been provided for under different legal systems, for instance how they are treated and the problems they face in the legal systems of Botswana, Lesotho, South Africa and Swaziland. A constant basis for dissonance under international law has been whether a state may at its own accord decide not to grant asylum to a refugee. States feel they have a right to admit or refuse entry to a foreign national. In actual fact they do have this right, but in exercising their sovereign rights they are limited by international law in terms of different conventions and protocols regulating the position of refugees.