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
- Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees Feb 2019
- Guidelines on International Protection No. 13: Applicability of Article 1D of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees to Palestinian Refugees Dec 2017
- 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
Legal and Protection Policy Research
A series of legal research and protection policy papers issued by the UNHCR Division of International Protection.
Related news and stories
News
'With this law, I will finally get a sense of how it is to exist'
News Releases
UNHCR welcomes new Ukrainian statelessness law set to end legal limbo for thousands
Stories
In their host countries, two LGBTI refugees from Venezuela start new lives
Stories
Sudanese mother wins citizenship for her children after seven-year legal struggle
Stories
Taking on traffickers at the world's largest refugee site
Stories