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The international refugee protection regime in the world today is premised on a number of international refugee rights instruments. Chief amongst these is, of course, the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees that have been described at the Magna Carta of international refugee law and the “cornerstone of protection” for refugees. Over the last 60 years, since the 1951 Convention was first negotiated by states, there have been momentous changes in the definition of the term “refugee” and non-refoulement, the prohibition of returning anyone to a territory where they could face persecution, that have been incorporated into the corpus of international law. The UNHCR has asserted that with the help of these treaties they have assisted over 50 million people. Nonetheless, it has been noted that the definition of refugee found in the 1951 Convention is limited. Indeed, it has been pointed out that the 1951 Convention takes great pains to eliminate many persons from Convention refugee status, initially, with its geographic and temporal limitations, that were lifted by its 1967 Protocol, its cessation provisions, and the non-inclusion of persons who already receive protection from other organs or agencies of the United Nations, like UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, www.unrwa.org.), and persons who have been recognized as nationals of a third country, and, finally, those who are found to be "undeserving of Convention refugee status."

It is axiomatic that Convention refugee status should only be given to persons who are genuinely in need of international refugee protection and who do not have access to international protection elsewhere. For instance, it is argued that persons should not be granted Convention refugee status who already have refugee protection through other UN organs or agencies or who have permanent residence status or citizenship in another country, or persons who have ceased to be refugees because of a durable change of circumstances in their country or countries of nationality that precludes the basis for a well-founded fear of persecution ... [ read more ]