The legal protection of Russian refugees after the October Revolution in Russia was the first refugee issue that the international community, constituted around the League of Nations, had to deal with. “Nansen’s Passport” was the first step in treating an individual (a refugee) as an international law subject. The author of the paper notes the development of the international refugee law within the context of some basic refugee movements of the international refugee law within the context of some basic refugee movements in the twentieth century. He also discusses the existence of the Geneva Convention on Refugee Status (1951), which defines the notion of a refugee, with a universal application guaranteed by the Protocol of 1967, having been in use ever since. After the rise of the liberal approach in refugee treatment in the 60’s and 70’s, and more restrictive policy measures concerning the acceptance of refugees, so that the whole refugee system finds itself in a serious crisis. In the second part of the paper, the author points to the multidisciplinary body of refugee studies that have in the last two decades been constituted as a separate part of research. Some specialized institutes have been established, journals treating refugee issues have been published, and refugee studies at some world known universities have received academic status. The author also points out to the danger of a client-like position of a researcher within the field, as opposed to research purchasers, the latter being different state institutions and humanitarian aid agencies. He also advocates autonomous scientific research into the problem. The last part of the paper is dedicated to the Croatian refugee crisis. In his theoretical explanation, the author applies the model of a competitive formation of a nation or state, drawing our attention to some Croatian particularities. Having followed the idea suggested in the world refugee literature that for a sociological analysis, dichotomous legal refugee/non-refugee categories are not sufficient, the author, relying on his own empirical research, has defined six different types of refugees and displaced people in Croatia.

Pravna zaštita ruskih izbjeglica nakon oktobarske revolucije u Rusiji prvo je izbjegličko pravo kojim se počinje baviti međunarodna zajednica konstituirana oko Lige naroda. „Nansenova putovnica“ prvi je korak u tretiranju pojedinaca (izbjeglica) kao subjekata međunarodnog prava. Autor prati razvitak međunarodnog izbjegličkog prava u kontekstu glavnih izbjegličkih pokreta u dvadesetom stoljeću. Autor posebno komentira nastavak Ženevske konvencije o statusu izbjeglica (1951), čije je određenje pojma izbjeglice, s univerzalnom primjenom, garantiranom Protokolom iz 1967, i danas na snazi. Nakon liberalnih uspona međunarodnog izbjegličkog zakona šezdesetih i sedamdesetih godina, od sredine osamdesetih bogati svijet počinje uvoditi sve restriktivnije mjere u politici primitka izbjeglica i azilanata, a svjetski izbjeglički sustav našao se u dubokoj krizi. U drugom dijelu rada autor naznačuje multidisciplinarni korpus izbjegličkih studija koje se konstituiraju kao posebno područje istraživanja u zadnja dva desetljeća. Osnovani su specijalizirani instituti, pokrenuti specijalizirani časopisi za problematiku izbjeglica, a izbjegličke studije na pojedinim svjetskim sveučilištima dobile su i akademski status. Autor zatim ukazuje na opasnost klijentalnog položaja istraživača na ovom području spram naručitelja istraživanja – državnih ustanova i humanitarnih agencija pomoći i zalaže se za autonomna znanstvena istraživanja. Zadnji dio rada posvećen je hrvatskoj izbjegličkoj krizi. U njezinu teorijskom objašnjenju autor primjenjuje model kompetitivnog formiranja nacije-države, upozoravajući na hrvatske specifičnosti. Na tragu ideje sugerirane u svjetskoj izbjegličkoj literaturi, da za sociološku analizu ne mogu biti zadovoljavajuće dihotomne pravne kategorije izbjeglice-neizbjeglice, Mesić je, s osloncem na vlastita empirijska istraživanja, koncipirao šest tipova izbjeglica odnosno raseljenih osoba.