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Under the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, Article 35 and Article II, respectively, call upon “Contracting States to co-operate with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees … in the exercise of its functions, and shall in particular facilitate its duty of supervising the application of the provisions of this Convention” and/or “present Protocol” as the case maybe (*). The supervision of one of the first comprehensive international instruments of the United Nations is unique in many respects.  It clearly places the onus on the UNHCR (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) to ensure that the provisions of the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol are duly applied by States Parties. 

The Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees states, in part, as follows:

2. Calls upon governments to co-operate with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees in the performance of his functions concerning refugees falling under the competence of his Office, especially by:

(a) Becoming parties to international conventions providing for the protection of refugees, and taking the necessary steps of implementation under such conventions; (**)

The Annex to the Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees states at Chapter II, Functions of the High Commissioner, Section 8 (a):

The High Commission shall provide for the protection of refugees falling under the competence of his Office by:

1. Promoting the conclusion and ratification of international conventions for the protection of refugees, supervising their application and proposing amendments thereto; (***)

The Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, thus, clearly gives the UNHCR responsibility for supervising international conventions for the protection of refugees.

The purpose of the York 2010 International Conference on “Forced Displacement, Protection Standards and the Supervision of the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol and Other International Instruments” is to bring together senior officials from the States Party to these international instruments, UN Agencies such as the UNHCR, OHCHR (Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights) and other international organizations such as the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC), International Labour Organization (ILO), senior jurists, legal scholars and other academics from a variety of disciplines, INGOs and NGOs, advocates, and undergraduate and graduate students to consider how best to enhance the UNHCR’s capacity to fulfil its onerus obligations to supervise these two seminal international refugee rights instruments as well as others. 

To this end, the “Forced Displacement, Protection Standards and the Supervision of the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol and Other International Instruments” will be held at York University, Toronto, Canada, May 17th to 20th, 2010.  The international conference will see whether a consensus can emerge or be forged on the legal issues and concerns that will be raised or that will come to the fore at the international conference.  At the conclusion of the international conference, a report will be prepared on the outcomes of the international conference that will be made available to the UNHCR and all other participants at our international conference, including, of course, refugees.  The final report will be posted on the York 2010 International Conference website and will be made publicly available to all those interested in this subject matter or research topic.

This website will be one of the principal means of disseminating information on our international conference and the ongoing research work and publications, on the supervision of the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol and other international refugee rights instrument.

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* Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, United Nations, New York, (UNTS, vol. 189, p. 137) (accessed April 26, 2010) and Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, United Nations, New York, (UNTS, vol. 606, p. 267) (accessed April 26, 2010).

** Statute of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, General Assembly Resolution, 428 (V), 14 December 1950, Section 2(a),  . 

*** Annex, Statute of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 428 (V), General Assembly Resolutions, 14 December 1950, Chapter II, Functions of the High Commissioner, Section 8(a), (Accessed May 3, 2010).