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This article presents a proposal for reforming the refugee protection system of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Sri Lanka. In Sri Lanka, the UNHCR was attempting to manage a situation of mass refugee movement in which thousands of people could attempt at any time to cross international borders in order to flee violence and political upheaval. The architects of the international refugee system did not design the UNHCR to operate in situations of mass influx. The article author begins with three principles for reforming the refugee system. First, any proposal for refugee reform must give states a self-interested reason to comply with the system. Second, reform proposals must continue to treat the non-refoulement principle as an important norm that must be protected. Third, refugee policy must be understood as a part of human rights policy, so that any policy change in the refugee system must, at the least, not facilitate the deterioration of the human rights climate in refugee-producing states. The changes as advocated by the author coupled with institutional reform of the UNHCR, would create a more humane refugee protection system for situations of mass influx.