The 1951 Refugee Convention

Hungarian Refugees in Austria/Three women and a child arriving at the Eisenstadt Camp, Austria. © UNHCR/1956

The legislation that underpins our work

The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees is the key legal document in defining who is a refugee, their rights and the legal obligations of States. The 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees removed geographical and temporal restrictions from the 1951 Convention.

Text of the Convention

There are 1 files.

1951 Refugee Convention (301.44 kb) Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. Text of the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol

UNHCR Handbook

There are 8 files.

UNHCR Handbook in English (620.35 kb) Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees.

UNHCR Handbook Estonian (677.19 kb)

UNHCR Handbook in Danish (1.13 mb)

UNHCR Handbook in Finnish (186 kb)

UNHCR Handbook in Icelandic (597.73 kb)

UNHCR Handbook in Latvian (7.1 mb)

UNHCR Handbook in Norwegian (600.8 kb)

UNHCR Handbook in Swedish (4.48 mb)

1951 Convention - Q&A

Questions and answers about the 1951 Refugee Convention.