Sunday marks the 73rd anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, the cornerstone of refugee protection that has saved and protected the lives of millions of people around the world fleeing war, violence, persecution and human rights abuses. To mark the anniversary, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) urged the remaining 46 UN member and observer states that have not yet done so to accede to the Convention.
To date, 149 States worldwide have become parties to the Refugee Convention and/or its 1967 Protocol. Millions of people around the world continue to be protected by the principles enshrined in these treaties. Adopted on July 28, 1951, the Refugee Convention established the internationally recognized definition of a refugee and the rights and assistance to which they are entitled while displaced.
“Ahead of the anniversary, UNHCR – as the guardian of the Refugee Convention – is urging the remaining 46 UN Member and Observer States to accede to it,” UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo told journalists in Geneva on Friday.
43.4 million refugees are currently protected by the Convention in countries around the world. At the heart of the Refugee Convention is the customary principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits a state from returning someone to a place where their life or freedom would be threatened.
However, because the principle of non-refoulement is part of customary international law, it is binding on all States, whether or not they are parties to the Refugee Convention or other international agreements. The prohibition of refoulement under international law applies to any form of forcible removal, including deportation, expulsion, extradition, informal transfer or extraordinary rendition.
Refugees are persons who have crossed an internationally recognized border and who, owing to circumstances beyond their control, have been forced to flee their country of origin and are in need of protection and assistance in finding safety in another country.
As defined by international law, refugees have certain rights and protections, including the right to seek asylum in another country, the right to protection and assistance, and the right not to be returned to a country where they would be persecuted or harmed.
Refugees are protected under international law, including the Refugee Convention and its Protocol, other regional and national legal frameworks such as the European Convention on Human Rights, the 1969 OAU Convention signed by many African States, and the 1984 Cartagena Declaration of the Americas.
“As long as new conflicts continue to erupt, prolonged ones fail to end, and people continue to be persecuted, there will be a need for these legal instruments,” Mantoo said.
“In addition to promoting universal accession of the Refugee Convention, UNHCR is calling on all States to give effect to the principles of refugee law, including to protect the fundamental right of all people to seek and enjoy asylum, and to uphold and protect the human rights of those forced to flee.”
UNHCR recently launched a new Refugee Treaty and Legislation Dashboard (RTLD), which tracks developments in international and regional refugee instruments and national legislation.
The latter part of the last century saw an increase in accessions to the Refugee Convention, particularly in the 1960s, early 1980s and 1990s. Since 2000, 13 States have acceded to the Convention, the most recent being Nauru in 2011 and South Sudan in 2018.
“More commitment to the Refugee Convention is still needed, in particular among States in Asia and in the Middle East, as well as in the Caribbean and the Pacific,” the UNHCR spokesperson said.
While the vast majority of UN members have signed or ratified the Convention and its Protocol, many countries have not: Among the significant non-signatories are Bangladesh, Cuba, Eritrea, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Malaysia, Mongolia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Uzbekistan.
The UN Refugee Agency says that in addition to demonstrating a state's willingness to protect refugees in accordance with international legal obligations, accession to the Refugee Convention can help avoid friction between States over refugee issues by recognizing that the granting of asylum is a peaceful, humanitarian and legal act, rather than a political or hostile gesture.
“It can also help foster cooperation and the sharing of refugee protection responsibilities between States, strengthening predictability and accountability at the international level. It is a signal of support for the principles of multilateralism and international solidarity that underpin refugee protection,” Mantoo said.
The call for accession comes as the number of forcibly displaced people continues to rise. As of May 2024, more than 120 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and situations of serious public disorder.
While more than 70 million have been uprooted from their homes by conflict and remain displaced within their own countries as internally displaced persons (IDPs), tens of millions more are refugees, asylum seekers, refugee returnees or stateless persons.
The vast majority of refugees - 69 percent - are hosted by countries neighboring their countries of origin, with 75 percent living in low- and middle-income countries. The world's largest host countries for refugees are: Iran (3.8 million), Turkey (3.3 million), Colombia (2.9 million), Germany (2.6 million), and Pakistan (2 million).
Further information
Full text: UN Refugee Agency marks 73 years of the Refugee Convention, urging universal accession; UNHCR, briefing notes, released July 26, 2024
https://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing-notes/un-refugee-agency-marks-73-years-refugee-convention-urging-universal-accession
Full text: Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), adopted July 28, 1951
https://www.ohchr.org/en/instruments-mechanisms/instruments/convention-relating-status-refugees
Website: Refugee Treaty and Legislation Dashboard (RTLD), UNHCR
https://rimap.unhcr.org/refugee-treaty-legislation-dashboard