The United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees is an international convention that defines who is a refugee, and sets out the rights of individuals who are granted asylum and the responsibilities of nations that grant asylum. The convention also sets out which people do not qualify as refugees, such as war criminals. The Convention also provides for some visa-free travel for holders of travel documents issued under the convention.

Contents 1 History 2 Definition of a Refugee 3 See also 4 External links 5 References

[edit] History

The convention was approved at a special United Nations conference on 28 July 1951. It was initially limited to protecting European refugees after World War II but a 1967 Protocol removed the geographical and time limits, expanding the Convention's scope. Because the convention was approved in Geneva, it is often referred to as "the Geneva Convention," though it is not one of the Geneva Conventions specifically dealing with allowable behavior in time of war.

Denmark was the first state to ratify the treaty (on 4 December 1952) and there are now 147 signatories to either the Convention or the Protocol or to both.

[edit] Definition of a Refugee

Article 1 of the Convention as amended by the 1967 Protocol provides the definition of a refugee:

"A person who owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.."^[1]

[edit] See also

Wikisource has original text related to this article: 1951 Refugee Convention

• Refugee Law
• United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
• United Nations Commission on Human Rights
• Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR)
• Travel Document

[edit] External links

• 1951 to Today (UNHCR)
• Full text of the Convention (UNHCR)
• States Parties to the Convention and Protocol (UNHCR)

v • d • e International human rights legal instruments   Declarations Cairo Declaration of Human Rights · Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples · Universal Declaration of Human Rights · American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man · Paris Principles   International law UN Convention Against Torture · Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women · Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination · Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities · Convention on the Rights of the Child · Convention on the Protection of the Rights of Migrant Workers and Their Families · International Convention on the Suppression and Punishment of the Crime of Apartheid · International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance · International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights · International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights   Regional law African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights · European (Convention on Human Rights · Convention for the Prevention of Torture · Convention for the Protection of National Minorities · Social Charter) · American Convention on Human Rights · Inter-American Convention (on Forced Disappearance of Persons · to Prevent and Punish Torture · on the Prevention, Punishment, and Eradication of Violence against Women · on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities)   International humanitarian law Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide · Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees · Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees · Geneva Conventions · Hague Conventions · Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.unhcr.se/SE/Protect_refugees/pdf/magazine.pdf

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