Refugees

The Refugee Convention

The refugee definition, which sets out these key ideas, is the centerpiece of the agreement known as the Refugee Convention. Its formal name is the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees. This treaty is now one of the most widely ratified in the world. A total of 144 countries were party to this agreement as of October 2008. Most of these countries are also party to the Refugee Protocol, a 1967 supplementary agreement that modifies some aspects of the original agreement.

The main changes made in 1967 were to extend the reach of the convention beyond Europe and beyond displacements resulting from World War II. The initial drafters of the convention had imagined that the refugee crisis would dissipate after World War II. By the mid-1960s, it was evident this would not happen. It is now apparent that refugee displacement is one of the most enduring dilemmas of our global era.

Participating in these agreements obligates these states to protect refugees by not sending them to places where they are at risk. In most cases, this means by not sending them home. This is known in international law as the principle of non-refoulement. In effect, this means that when someone is found to be a refugee, he or she has a right to remain—at least temporarily—in the state of refuge because there is nowhere else that person can go. If someone does have a legal right to live in a different, safe, country, he or she will not be considered to be a refugee.

Beyond setting out the definition of a refugee and the principle of non-refoulement, the Refugee Convention establishes the basic human rights to which refugees are entitled wherever they are. These rights include protection from discrimination, a right to work, access to education, and access to the courts. Importantly, even though refugees do not have a right to enter any country, they cannot be punished for entering a country illegally. This compromise position is a recognition that by definition a refugee does not have any safe place to live, but that sovereign countries are unwilling to relinquish their capacity to exclude individuals at their borders. Most analysts agree that when someone approaches the border and asks for refugee status, that person must be admitted to have that claim adjudicated.

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