Refugees in identity crisis. Interactions between migration law and private international law

Picture: a Somalian boy cannot prove his minority in order to be entitled to a guardian because he has no birth certificate. Or: an Afghan couple, claiming for asylum, whose Iranian marriage certificate proves a religious marriage that was concluded in Iran when the girl was 16.These cases share a complex legal dimension related to the cross-border recognition of personal status. Not only do refugees have to submit authentic documents, the content of the documents must also be recognized. Both issues are important hurdles in a refugee context. This research first aims at mapping the legal problems related to refugees: personal status. In a second phase, it will investigate whether and how the mapping and the awareness of these interactions can lead to a better coordination of these two legal frameworks with the aim of enhancing the protection of refugees.