Legal Protection

Sri lanka / Stateless people / Workers on the tea plantation meet with UNHCR staff on Bopitiya estate, Deltota, Sri Lanka. The people who work on the estate are descended from Indians brought over by British colonials but never given Sri Lankan citizenship. A law in 2003 enabled Indian origin Tamil plantation workers to obtain citizenship provided their families had been in Sri Lanka since 1964. UNHCR has launched an information campaign to ensure that plantation workers are made aware of the special declaration which automatically grants citizenship to Stateless people. / May 2007

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.

Documents and publications on RefWorld

Resettlement

The 1951 Refugee Convention

UNHCR Statute

Handbook for Determining Refugee Status and Guidelines on International Protection

Legal and Protection Policy Research

A series of legal research and protection policy papers issued by the UNHCR Division of International Protection.

Drumming against gender-based violence in Ecuador

Stories

Birth registration drive brings Congo's indigenous in from the shadows

Stories

Volunteers boost Sama Bajau birth registration amid pandemic

News

'Political will' needed to safeguard 82.4 million displaced – UNHCR protection chief

News Releases

The 1951 Refugee Convention: 70 years of life-saving protection