GENEVA

The UN refugee agency will mark the 73rd anniversary of the Refugee Convention, which has saved and protected the lives of "millions of people" around the world fleeing war, violence, persecution, and human rights violations, the spokesperson said Friday. 

The Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol establish the internationally recognized definition of refugees and the rights and assistance to which they are entitled, and 149 countries worldwide are parties to either the convention or the protocol.

Ahead of the anniversary to be marked on July 28, UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo told a UN briefing in Geneva that the agency is urging the remaining 46 UN members and observer states to accede to the convention.

Mantoo noted that an increase in the number of accessions to the convention was observed in the latter part of the last century. Since 2000, 13 States have acceded to it, she said, with the most recent being Nauru in 2011 and South Sudan in 2018.


She underlined that "more commitment" to the convention is still needed, in particular among states in Asia, the Middle East, the Caribbean, and the Pacific.

"Accession to the Refugee Convention not only evidences a state's willingness to protect refugees in accordance with international legal obligations, it can also help avoid friction between states over refugee issues, recognizing that the granting of asylum is a peaceful, humanitarian and legal act, rather than a political or hostile gesture," Mantoo said.

She added that it can also help foster cooperation and the sharing of refugee protection responsibilities between states, "strengthening predictability and accountability at the international level."

"It is a signal of support for the principles of multilateralism and international solidarity that underpin refugee protection," the spokesperson said.

Mantoo said that UNHCR is also calling on all states to give effect to the principles of refugee law, including to protect the fundamental right of all people to seek and enjoy asylum, and to uphold and protect the human rights of those forced to flee.