The 1951 Refugee Convention

Why this record matters

Date

28 July 1951

Catalogue reference

FO 93/1/438

This signed copy of the 1951 Refugee Convention sits in the Foreign Office Treaty section of the collection at The National Archives.

Also known as the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, it was the result of a diplomatic conference in Geneva to agree refugees’ basic rights and entitlements. Every nation that attended would have received a copy of the agreement, as is the practice for all Geneva Conventions.

The convention defines a refugee as a person who is outside their country of nationality and has a ‘well-founded fear of being persecuted’ due to reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion. In a few circumstances people were excluded, such as those suspected of committing a war crime.

Importantly, article 33 contained the principle of ‘non-refoulement’, whereby a person could not be returned to a country where they faced serious threats to their life or freedom.

Although this was not the first time that governments were dealing with displaced people on a large scale, the vast numbers of people uprooted due to the Second World War required a consolidated international response. The rights of refugees were agreed upon initially by delegates from 26 countries, including a representative from Britain.

The scope of the convention was limited, however, in terms of time and geography. It only applied to those seeking asylum in Europe because of events occurring before 1 January 1951. It was shaped by the most powerful states at the UN, and with hundreds of thousands of refugees still in camps in Europe, European powers pushed to settle these people more permanently. They mostly consisted of particularly vulnerable people, such as the sick and the elderly.

Yet the Second World War was global in nature, with combatants drawn from across different empires. Millions of men and women from Britain's colonies had contributed to the Allied war effort, forming a multi-lingual, multi-ethnic force that was essential in the outcome of the war.

Non-European countries had already provided relief to refugees during and after the war. For example, many Polish refugees had been moved to Iran in the early 1940s, then onto India, the Middle East, and East and Central Africa. After the Second World War, decolonisation across the British Empire triggered migrations on a global scale. The delegate for India, one of the most notable non-signatories in 1951, objected to the geographical restrictions of the convention, which would exclude millions of people displaced across the newly independent states of India and Pakistan. In this context of decolonisation and developing Cold War tensions, the convention prioritised the refugees of western Europe.

Eventually, after petitioning and pressure from countries who had gained independence, the limits based on time and geography were lifted and the convention was expanded in 1967. Although several countries remain critical of the convention and its colonial underpinnings, it continues to apply today.