Michigan Guidelines

The Program also convenes a biennial Colloquium on Challenges in International Refugee Law, which brings leading scholars to Ann Arbor to develop the intellectual framework for resolution of cutting-edge problems facing international refugee law.

The first Colloquium, convened in April 1999, issued the "Michigan Guidelines on the Internal Protection Alternative" (disponible aussi en français: "Les recommandations de Michigan sur l'alternative de protection interne").

The second Colloquium, convened in March 2001, issued "The Michigan Guidelines on Nexus to a Convention Ground", which define the meaning and application of the "for reasons of" clause in the refugee definition (disponible aussi en français: “Les recommendations de Michigan sur le lien avec un motif conventionnel”).

The third Colloquium, convened in March 2004, issued the "Michigan Guidelines on Well-Founded Fear." These Guidelines explain why the focus of this aspect of the refugee definition is fundamentally objective, even as it requires that account be taken of the particular circumstances of each applicant for refugee status (disponible aussi en français: "Les Recommandations de Michigan sur la crainte avec raison").