Solidarity and Responsibility-Sharing: Does the Global Compact on Refugees advance core principles of international refugee law?

It is well established that there is a substantial gap between rhetoric and state practice of solidarity in international refugee protection. This article reflects on the Global Compact on Refugee’s normative impact in advancing the principle of solidarity and responsibility-sharing for the refugee crisis. First, the article will introduce current inequitable responses to refugee protection, evidenced by Global North states’ strategies of deterrence and externalisation of borders. Then, the article will briefly discuss the development of international refugee law, with a specific focus on the normative gap regarding international solidarity and responsibility-sharing, which the Compact intended to fill. At this juncture, the perspectives of postcolonial scholars are introduced to centre the critique on the Compact’s failings within the broader discussion of international law’s colonial roots and neo-colonial impacts. Finally, the future of responsibility sharing for international refugee protection is pondered in an effort to understand whether it is possible for international refugee law frameworks to equitably address and remedy the historical injustices of colonial project which perpetuate the contemporary crisis.