Legal Protection
© UNHCR / G. Amarasinghe
Based on the 1951 Geneva Refugee Convention, UNHCR's core mandate is to ensure the international protection of uprooted people worldwide.
Our organization promotes the basic human rights of refugees and ensures they will not be returned involuntarily to a country where they face persecution. We help them to repatriate to their homeland when conditions permit, integrate into states of asylum or resettle in third countries. We also promote international refugee agreements, help states establish asylum structures and act as an international watchdog over refugee issues.
Resettlement
The 1951 Refugee Convention
UNHCR Statute
Handbook for Determining Refugee Status and Guidelines on International Protection
- UNHCR Guidelines on International Protection No. 12 on claims for refugee status related to situations of armed conflict and violence under Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees and the regional refugee definitions 2 Dec 2016
- Guidelines on International Protection No. 11: Prima Facie Recognition of Refugee Status, 5 June 2015 24 Jun 2015
- Guidelines on International Protection No. 10: Claims to Refugee Status related to Military Service within the context of Article 1A (2) of the 1951 Convention and/or the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, 3 December 2013 4 Sep 2014
Legal and Protection Policy Research
A series of legal research and protection policy papers issued by the UNHCR Division of International Protection.
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