ABSTRACT
This chapter analyzes how gender interfaces with xenophobic and Islamophobic bias to exclude young males from Muslim-majority countries from third country refugee resettlement programs under the 1951 Refugee Convention. It explores how the narratives around Islamophobia, masculinity, and gender norms affect if a person is classified as vulnerable and in need of third country refugee resettlement. The chapter provides the historical and legal backdrop necessary to understand that state’s interests are intertwined in the “refugee” definition and how vulnerability is legally conceptualized. It examines how the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Germany, Canada, and the United States have constructed priority categories based on vulnerability for third country resettlement. Refugee resettlement is one of the UNHCR’s durable solutions to refugee flows. A durable solution is one that assists refugees to live safely while rebuilding their lives. Males who conform to gender norms from Muslim-majority countries are excluded from the protections of the Refugee Convention.
