Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees / 1967 Protocol
1951-07-28
1968-11-01
Summary
The 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol define who is a refugee, establish the principle of non-refoulement (prohibition of returning refugees to persecution), and set minimum standards for treatment. The U.S. acceded to the 1967 Protocol (which incorporates the Convention's substantive provisions) but not to the 1951 Convention itself.
Parties
U.S. Implementing Legislation
Refugee Act of 1980
Pub. L. 96-212, 8 U.S.C. §§ 1101(a)(42), 1157–1159
Implements the Protocol's refugee definition and non-refoulement obligation, establishing the U.S. asylum and refugee resettlement system.
Key Cases
INS v. Cardoza-Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421 (1987) — 'Well-founded fear' standard for asylum aligned with Protocol
Sale v. Haitian Centers Council, 509 U.S. 155 (1993) — Non-refoulement does not apply extraterritorially to interdiction on the high seas