Disability in Refugee Populations
THE LEGAL PROTECTION OF REFUGEES WITH DISABILITIES: FORGOTTEN AND INVISIBLE?, M. Crock, L. Smith-Khan, R. McCallum, B. Saul, Edward Elgar, UK, 2017
15 Pages Posted: 13 Sep 2017
Date Written: September 11, 2017
Abstract
Natural disasters, wars and other forms of human conflict have caused death and disabilities since the beginning of human existence. However, such disasters affect different people in different ways. This chapter of The Legal Protection of Refugees with Disabilities introduces the themes at the centre of this book: how international law and state practice does (or should) accommodate experiences of disability amongst people who have been forcibly displaced. We explain our approach, which is closely informed by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and provide an overview of each of the book’s chapters. Our research confirms that disability is never just about an individual’s physical, psycho-social or other type of impairment. Rather, disability results from the interaction of personal attributes and social, legal and environment context – something which is very clear in the complex and challenging situations faced by refugees and other forced migrants.
Keywords: Disability, displacement, refugee, CRPD, functioning, capabilities
JEL Classification: K10, K30, K32
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation