Dr Bríd Ní Ghráinne’s research has recently been cited by Judge Martin Kopa of the Regional Court in Brno, Czech Republic. The case before the court concerned an application for refugee status by a Ukrainian national in the Czech Republic. The applicant’s request was denied on the basis that there was a place within Ukraine that they could safely relocate to and seek protection.
In making this assessment, the Court relied on Dr Ní Ghráinne’s research on the Internal Protection Alternative, which appears in the Oxford Handbook of International Refugee Law, edited by Professors Cathryn Costello, Michelle Foster, and Jane McAdam.
The Internal Protection Alternative concept posits that an refugee status can be denied if an individual can receive protection in another part of their home country. Most refugee receiving states apply the Internal Protection Alternative so that they can limit their refugee intake and its application will soon become mandatory under EU law. Dr Ní Ghráinne’s chapter traces the history of the Internal Protection Alternative concept, surveys state practice, and sets out the minimum binding criteria that apply when determining whether an Internal Protection Alternative exists. You can read a pre-print version of her chapter here.
Dr Ní Ghráinne’s research on the Internal Protection Alternative has also appeared in the International and Comparative Law Quarterly and the International Journal of Refugee Law. Her monograph ‘Internally Displaced Persons and International Refugee Law’ (forthcoming Oxford University Press, 2022) also examines the Internal Protection Alternative, and specifically how this concept relates to internal displacement.