b. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees 1 Done at Geneva, July 28, 1951 Preamble The HIGH CONTRACTING PARTIES, CONSIDERING that the Charter of the United Nations and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights approved on 10 December 1948 by the General Assembly have affirmed the principle that human beings shall enjoy fundamental rights and freedoms without discrimination, CONSIDERING that the United Nations has, on various occasions, manifested its profound concern for refugees and endeavored to assure refugees the widest possible exercise of these fundamental rights and freedoms, CONSIDERING that it is desirable to revise and consolidate previous international agreements relating to the status of refugees and to extend the scope of and the protection accorded by such instruments by means of a new agreement, CONSIDERING that the grant of asylum may place unduly heavy burdens on certain countries, and that a satisfactory solution of a problem of which the United Nations has recognized the international scope and nature cannot therefore be achieved without international co-operation, EXPRESSING the wish that all States, recognizing the social and humanitarian nature of the problem of refugees, will do everything within their power to prevent this problem from becoming a cause of tension between States, NOTING that the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees is charged with the task of supervising international conventions providing for the protection of refugees, and recognizing that the effective co-ordination of measures taken to deal with this problem will depend upon the co-operation of States with the High Commissioner. HAVE AGREED as follows: 19 UST 6260; TIAS 6577. The United States is not a party to this Convention. However, the United States is a party to the Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (page 146) which corporates Articles 2 through 34 of this Convention. See also material concerning migration and refugee assistance, section E, volume I. 58-608 0 - 81 - 11 Chapter I GENERAL PROVISIONS ARTICLE 1 Definition of the Term "Refugee" A. For the purposes of the present Convention, the term "refu gee" shall apply to any person who: (1) Has been considered a refugee under the Arrangements of 1 May 19262 and 30 June 1928 3 or under the Conventions of 28 Oc tover 1933 and 10 February 1938,5 the Protocol of 14 September 1939 or the Constitution of the International Refugee Organiza tion;7 6 Decisions of non-eligibility taken by the International Refuge Organization during the period of its activities shall not prevent the status of refugee being accorded to persons who fulfill the con ditions of paragraph 2 of this section; (2) As a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951 and owing to well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or po litical opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and i 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. In the case of a person who has more than one nationality, the term "the country of his nationality" shall mean each of the coun tries of which he is a national, and a person shall not be deemed to be lacking the protection of the country of his nationality if, with out any valid reason based on well-founded fear, he has not availed himself of the protection of one of the countries of which he is national. B. (1) For the purposes of this Convention, the words "events oc curring before 1 January 1951" in article 1, section A, shall be un derstood to mean either (a) "events occuring in Europe before 1 January 1951"; or (b) "events occurring in Europe or elsewhere before 1 Janu ary 1951"; and each Contracting State shall make a declaration at the time of signature, ratification or accession, specifying which of these mean ings it applies for the purpose of its obligations under this Conven tion. (2) Any Contracting State which has adopted alternative (a) may at any time extend its obligations by adopting alternative (b) by means of a notification addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations. 2 89 LNTS 47. 3 89 LNTS 63. 4159 LNTS 199. 5192 LNTS 59. 6198 LNTS 141. 7 TIAS 1846; 62 Stat. (3) 3037. C. This Convention shall cease to apply to any person falling under the terms of section A if: (1) He has voluntarily re-availed himself of the protection of the country of his nationality; or (2) Having lost his nationality, he has voluntarily reacquired it; or (3) He has acquired a new nationality, and enjoys the protection of the country of his new nationality; or (4) He has voluntarily re-established himself in the country which he left or outside which he remained owing to fear of persecution; or (5) He can no longer, because the circumstances in connexion with which he has been recognized as a refugee have ceased to exist, continue to refuse to avail himself of the protection of the country of his nationality; Provided that this paragraph shall not apply to a refugee falling under section A(1) of this article who is able to invoke compelling reasons arising out of previous persecution for refusing to avail himself of the protection of the country of nationality; (6) Being a person who has no nationality he is, because the circumstances in connexion with which he has been recognized as a refugee have ceased to exist, able to return to the country of his former habitual residence; Provided that this paragraph shall not apply to a refugee falling under section A(1) of this article who is able to invoke compelling reasons arising out of previous persecutions for refusing to return to the country of his former habitual residence. D. This Convention shall not apply to persons who are at present receiving from organs or agencies of the United Nations other than the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees protection or assistance. When such protection or assistance has ceased for any reason, without the position of such persons being definitively settled in accordance with the relevant resolutions adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations, these persons shall ipso facto be entitled to the benefits of this Convention. E. This Convention shall not apply to a person who is recognized by the competent authorities of the country in which he has taken residence as having the rights and obligations which are attached to the possession of the nationality of that country. F. The provisions of this Convention shall not apply to any person with respect to whom there are serious reasons for considering that: (a) he has committed a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity, as defined in the international instruments drawn up to make provision in respect of such crimes; (b) he has committed a serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge prior to his admission to that country as a refugee; (c) he has been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. ARTICLE 2 General Obligations Every refugee has duties to the country in which he finds himself, which require in particular that he conform to its laws and regulations as well as to measures taken for the maintenance of public order. ARTICLE 3 Non-discrimination The Contracting States shall apply the provisions of this Convention to refugees without discrimination as to race, religion or country of origin. ARTICLE 4 The Contracting States shall accord to refugees within their territories treatment at least as favourable as that accorded to their nationals with respect to freedom to practice their religion and freedom as regard the religious education of their children. ARTICLE 5 Rights granted apart from this Convention Nothing in this Conventioin shall be deemed to impair any rights and benefits granted by a Contracting State to refugees apart from this Convention. ARTICLE 6 The Term "in the same circumstances" For the purpose of this Convention, the term "in the same circumstances" implies that any requirements (including require ments as to length and conditions of sojourn or residence) which the particular individual would have to fulfill for the enjoyment of the right in question, if he were not a refugee, must be fulfilled by him, with the exception of requirements which by their nature a refugee is incapable of fulfilling. ARTICLE 7 Exemption from Reciprocity 1. Except where this Convention contains more favourable provisions, a Contracting State shall accord to refugees the same treatment as is accorded to aliens generally. 2. After a period of three years' residence, all refugees shall enjoy exemption from legislative reciprocity in the territory of the Contracting States. 3. Each Contracting State shall continue to accord to refugees the rights and benefits to which they were already entitled, in the absence of reciprocity, at the date of entry into force of this Convention for that State. 4. The Contracting States shall consider favourably the possibility of according to refugees, in the absence of reciprocity, rights and benefits beyond those to which they are entitled according to paragraphs 2 and 3, and to extending exemption from reciprocity to refugees who do not fulfill the conditions provided for in paragraphs 2 and 3. 5. The provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 apply both to the rights and benefits referred to in articles 13, 18, 19, 21 and 22 of this Čonvention and to rights and benefits for which this Convention does not provide. ARTICLE 8 Exemption from Exceptional Measures With regard to exceptional measures which may be taken against the persons, property or interests of nationals of a foreign State, the Contracting States shall not apply such measures to a refugee who is formally a national of the said State solely on account of such nationality. Contracting States which, under their legislation, are prevented from applying the general principle expressed in this article, shall, in appropriate cases, grant exemptions in favour of such refugees. ARTICLE 9 Provisional Measures Nothing in this Convention shall prevent a Contracting State, in time of war or other grave and exceptional circumstances, from taking provisionally measures which it considers to be essential to the national security in the case of a particular person, pending a determination by the Contracting State that that person is in fact a refugee and that the continuance of such measures is necessary in his case in the interests of national security. ARTICLE 10 Continuity of Residence 1. Where a refugee has been forcibly displaced during the Second World War and removed to the territory of a Contracting State, and is resident there, the period of such enforced sojourn shall be considered to have been lawful residence within that territory. 2. Where a refugee has been forcibly displaced during the Second World War from the territory of a Contracting State and has, prior to the date of entry into force of this Convention, returned there |