Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees

The Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (Refugee Convention) establishes the legal framework to govern treatment of refugees. A refugee is defined as a person who:

1. Has been considered a refugee under previous international instruments on refugees, or 
2. Is outside his or her country of nationality or habitual residence due to a well-founded fear of being persecuted because of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, social group or political opinion, and is unable or unwilling to avail himself or herself of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution). 

The Refugee Convention sets out the rights to which refugees are entitled, which include protection of artistic rights and industrial property, association in non-political and non-profit-making associations and trade unions, access to the courts of law, engaging in wage-earning employment, public education, freedom of movement, and issuance of identity papers and travel documents. Significantly, the Convention adopts the principle of non-refoulement, whereby states parties are prohibited from expelling or returning (“refouler”) refugees in any manner whatsoever to territories where their lives or freedom would be threatened on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. It is a key obligation in the Convention and is non-derogable, and reservations are not allowed. Nonetheless, the principle of non-refoulement does not apply to a refugee who:

1. Based on reasonable grounds, may be regarded as a danger to the security of the country in which he or she is, or 
2. Having been convicted by a final judgment of a particularly serious crime, constitutes a danger to the community of that country. 

States parties are obliged to apply Refugee Convention provisions without discrimination as to race, religion or country of origin. They are also prohibited, with a few exceptions, from penalizing refugees for their illegal entry or stay. Notably, the restrictive definition of refugee under the convention suggests that “climate refugees”—persons who are forced to flee their homes due to the effects of climate change, such as sea level rise”—do not fall within the ambit of the convention.