Drawing on Gil’s long legacy as an authority on UNHCR and global refugee issues, the book succinctly covers a broad range of issues around the causes and impact of the contemporary refugee crisis for both receiving states and societies, for global order, and for refugees and other forced migrants themselves.

In the book, Gil discusses the identity of refugees, asylum seekers, and internally displaced persons and how they differ from other forced migrants. He also investigates the long history of the refugee phenomenon and how refugees became a central concern of the international community during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, as well as considering the responses provided by governments and international aid organisations to refugee needs. He concludes by focussing on the necessity of these bodies to understand the realities of the contemporary refugee situation in order to best respond to its current and future challenges.

Gil, our colleague of over a decade and a highly valued member of the Refugee Studies Centre, died in 2020.