Refugees and national human rights institutions: A growing engagement

Abstract

In recent years national human rights institutions (NHRIs) have begun to bridge the long-standing gap between practice in the refugee and human rights fields. Often using their mandate as national preventive mechanisms under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, NHRIs visit refugees in detention as well as in other types of camp. This has been particularly marked among Balkan ombudsman institutions in their response to the recent mass influx of refugees.