Chapter 1.

Protection of refugees’ rights in International Law

1.1 Notion and main characteristics of refugee status in International Law.
The twentieth century safely can be called the century when the global
migration started: the First World War, the October Revolution, the collapse of the
Ottoman Empire - all these events caused massive movements of people in Europe
and Asia. And it was then when official international efforts were made for the first
time by the League of Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross to
provide assistance to refugees, which were realized in two Agreements on the
issuance of identity cards to Russian and Armenian refugees in 1922 and 1924. The
Conference decided to establish the post of High Commissioner for Refugees. Fritjof
Nansen, a well-known Norwegian scientist and statesman, was appointed to this post.
A definition of "refugee" was first given on 12 May 1926 at a conference in
Geneva in the Agreement on the issue of identity cards to Russian and Armenian
refugees in 1922 and 1924. The new act formulated the definition of the concept
"refugee" for the first time, as well as a number of additions and changes to the treaty
was introduced. Including the refugee's identity card, the "Nansen passport",
according to the 1926 Agreement, could also be valid for returning to the country that
issued it.
The subsequent act that established the world-accepted definition of a
"refugee" was the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees of 1951, which is
the key legal document that was ratified by 145 State parties. Later on Protocol
Relating to the Status of Refugees 1967 removed both the temporal and geographic
restrictions, where a “refugee” in Article 1 is defined as "A person who owing to a
well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality,
membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of
his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of
the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the
country of his former habitual residence as a result of such events, is unable or, owing
to such fear, is unwilling to return to it."[4]
 Several acts have been built upon the 1951 Convention to create a more
objective definition. While their terms differ from those of the 1951 Convention, the
Convention has significantly shaped the new, more objective definitions.
They include the 1969 Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee
Problems in Africa by the Organisation of African Unity (since 2002 African Union)
where it is defined as “every person who, owing to a well-founded fear of being
persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social
group or political opinion,is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or,
owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country, or
who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual
residence asa result of such events, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to
return to it.”[5] The term “refugee” shall also apply to every person who, owing to
external aggression, occupation, foreign domination or events seriously disturbing
public order in either part or the whole of his country of origin or nationality, is
compelled to leave his place of habitual residence in order to seek refuge in another
place outside his country of origin or nationality. In the case of a person who has
several nationalities, the term “a country of which he is a national” shall mean each
of the countries of which he is a national, and a person shall not be deemed to be
lacking the protection of the country of which he is a national if, without any valid
reason based on well-founded fear, he has not availed himself of the protection of one
of the countries of which he is a national.” Also it defines some features that
distinguish a person from having a refugee status if : he has voluntarily re-availed
himself of the protection of the country of his nationality, or having lost his
nationality, he has voluntarily re-acquired it, or he has acquired a new nationality,
and enjoys the protection of the country of his new nationality, or he has voluntarily
re-established himself in the country which he left or outside which he remained
owing to fear of persecution, or he can no longer, because the circumstances in
connection with which he was recognized as a refugee have ceased to exist, continue
to refuse to avail himself of the protection of the country of his nationality, orhe has
committed a serious non-political crime outside his country of refuge after his

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admission to that country as a refugee, or he has seriously infringed the purposes and
objectives of this Convention. 1984 Cartagena Declaration, while nonbinding, also
sets out regional standards for refugees in Central America, Mexico and Panama.
Along with the definitions in Convention UNHCR identifies seven population
categories in its “Global Trends” regular handbook, collectively referred to as
‘persons of concern’: refugees, asylum-seekers, internally displaced persons (IDPs),
refugees who have returned home (returnees), IDPs who have returned home, persons
under UNHCR’s statelessness mandate, and others who do not fall under these
categories but to whom the agency extends protection. Since 2007, two additional
sub-categories have been added: individuals in refugee-like situations (included under
refugees) and those in IDP-like situations (included under IDPs).[6]
Refugees include individuals recognized under the 1951 Convention relating to
the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, individuals recognized under the 1969
Organization of African Unity (OAU) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of
Refugee Problems in Africa, those recognized in accordance with the UNHCR
Statute, individuals granted complementary forms of protection, and those enjoying
temporary protection.The refugee category also includes individuals in a refugee-like
situation.
Asylum-seekers (with ‘pending cases’) are individuals who have sought
international protection and whose claims for refugee status have not yet been
determined. Those covered in this report refer to claimants whose individual
applications were pending at the end of 2014, irrespective of when those claims may
have been lodged.
Internally displaced persons are persons or groups of persons who have been
forced to leave their home or place of habitual residence, in particular as a result of or
in order to avoid the effects of armed conflict, situations of generalized violence,
violations of human rights, or natural or man-made disasters, and who have not
crossed an international border. UNHCR is involved in situations of internal
displacement in a number of countries. Moreover, under the cluster approach,
UNHCR provides support to both IDPs and other affected persons, though the latter

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are not included in these statistics. Hence, UNHCR’s statistics provide a
comprehensive picture neither of global internal displacement nor of total numbers
assisted by the agency in such situations.
Returned refugees (returnees) are former refugees who have returned to their
country of origin, either spontaneously or in an organized fashion, but are yet to be
fully integrated. Such returns would normally take place only under conditions of
safety and dignity.
Returned IDPs refers to those IDPs who were beneficiaries of UNHCR’s
protection or assistance activities and who returned to their area of origin or habitual
residence between January and December 2014. In practice, however, operations may
assist IDP returnees for longer periods.
Persons under UNHCR’s statelessness mandate are defined under international
law as those not considered as nationals by any State under the operation of its law.
In other words, they do not possess the nationality of any State.
Alternatively in Law of Ukraine "On refugees and persons in need of
additional or temporary protection" Section I general Provisions in Article 1 is given
a definition that, though is put in different words, carries the same meaning: “Refugee
shall mean a person who is not a citizen of Ukraine and who, on account of a well-
founded fear of becoming a victim of persecution for reason of race, religion,
ethnicity, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is
outside the country of his nationality and is unable or is unwilling to avail himself of
the protection of this country owing to the said fear; or, having no nationality and
being outside the country of his previous habitual residence, is unable or is unwilling
to return to such country on account of the said fear.” [8]
Summarizing it is important to say that of all give definitions four main criteria
for inclusion in the concept of "refugee" can be identified: 1) the applicant must be
outside the country of his nationality; 2) have well-founded fears of persecution; 3)
and this fear must come as a result of persecution; 4) this fear of persecution must be
based on one or five characteristics: race, religion, citizenship, membership of a
particular social group, or political beliefs.