The period after the Cold War has been marked by conflict despite what was hoped to be a peaceful and collaborative world. Violence and persecution continue to be committed in different corners of the world which compels many people to flee their countries and seek protection in neighbouring states as refugees, thereby rendering refugee protection an important international issue. Many people mistakenly think that the refugee problem is of particular concern only to the North, yet the South has as much to do being a major source of refugee influx. In the face of global crises of involuntary cross-border human displacement, the protection of refugees has assumed and will continue to assume paramount significance. Since its promulgation in 1951, the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees dominates the understanding of refugee issues. However, due mainly to the indifference and refusal of its members to keep true to their commitments under the Convention, it is no longer as relevant and adaptive as it once was. This book, An Introduction to International Refugee Law, aims to underscore the urgent need for the members to deliver their commitments and to set the stage for a deeper understanding of these assumed obligations in a global setting. It purports to fulfill this goal by underscoring, highlighting, elaborating, explaining and commenting on the salient rules and principles of international law on refuges to afford a deeper appreciation of its limitations and to pursue a reformist agenda. We wish to extend our sincere thanks and gratitude to all contributors who have come together to make this collection an exciting publication on international refugee law. As editors, we have pursued a minimalist interventionist approach in all chapters, which remain in substance the original work of their respective author. We are also grateful to Lindy Melman and Bea Timmer of Martinus Nijhoff Publishers for their support and cooperation with this book.