The 1951 refugee convention from a welfare-state perspective

This paper studies how national welfare-state institutions influenced the positions states took on the social rights of refugees during the negotiation, adoption, and ratification of the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. Through an analysis of the drafting process and the reservations and interpretative declarations states issued when rat-ifying the Convention, the paper demonstrates that concerns about national welfare-state institutions shaped the commitments states made. Earlier scholarship on the origins of the refugee regime has focused on international relations, diplomatic history, and law and largely neglected the role of welfare-state institutions.