Borderline disorder: the UN’s refugee treaty at 70

<p>An international convention devised after the second world war is ill-suited to the refugee crises of today—and countries are <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-economist-explains/2021/07/27/who-counts-as-a-refugee?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&amp;utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=third-party-host&amp;utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">increasingly unwilling</a> to meet their obligations. Vancouver’s proposed response to a spate of drug overdoses is a <a href="https://www.economist.com/the-americas/2021/07/24/vancouver-wants-to-decriminalise-possession-of-many-hard-drugs?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&amp;utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=third-party-host&amp;utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sweeping decriminalisation</a>; we ask whether the plan would work. And the bid to save a vanishingly rare “<a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2021/05/22/the-struggle-to-save-a-south-african-language-with-45-click-sounds?utm_campaign=the-intelligence&amp;utm_medium=podcast&amp;utm_source=third-party-host&amp;utm_content=show-notes" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">click language</a>” in Africa.</p><p>For full access to print, digital and audio editions of <em>The Economist</em>, subscribe here <a href="http://www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/intelligenceoffer</a></p> &#10;&nbsp;<br /><hr><p style='color: grey; font - size: 0.75em; '>See <a style='color: grey; ' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.</p>