Convention relating to the Status of Refugees
Adopted on 28 July 1951 by the United Nations Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the
Status of Refugees and Stateless Persons convened under General Assembly resolution 429
(V) of 14 December 1950
Entry into force: 22 April 1954, in accordance with article 43
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 endeavoured 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 :
Chapter I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1. - Definition of the term "refugee"
A. For the purposes of the present Convention, the term "refugee" shall apply to any person who:
(1) Has been considered a refugee under the Arrangements of 12 May 1926 and 30 June 1928 or
under the Conventions of 28 October 1933 and 10 February 1938, the Protocol of 14 September 1939
or the Constitution of the International Refugee Organization;
Decisions of non-eligibility taken by the International Refugee Organization during the period of its
activities shall not prevent the status of refugee being accorded to persons who fulfil the conditions of
paragraph 2 of this section;