Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees

Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees
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  parties to only the 1951 Convention
  parties to only the 1967 Protocol
  parties to both
  non-members
Signed 31 January 1967
Location New York
Effective 4 October 1967
Signatories 19
Parties Convention: 145[1]
Protocol: 146[1]
Depositary Secretary-General of the United Nations
Languages English and French
(Chinese, Russian and Spanish)

The Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees is a key treaty in international refugee law. It entered into force on 4 October 1967, and 146 countries are parties.

Where the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees had restricted refugee status to those whose circumstances had come about "as a result of events occurring before 1 January 1951", as well as giving states party to the Convention the option of interpreting this as "events occurring in Europe" or "events occurring in Europe or elsewhere", the 1967 Protocol removed both the temporal and geographic restrictions. This was needed in the historical context of refugee flows resulting from decolonisation. However, the Protocol gave those states which had previously ratified the 1951 Convention and chosen to use the geographically restricted definition the option to retain that restriction.

References

  1. 1 2 "Chapter V – Refugees and Stateless Persons". United Nations Treaty Series. 22 July 2013. Archived from the original on 14 November 2012. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
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