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Refugees are human rights violations made visible. Consequently, their precarious situation and the protections afforded to them cannot be understood without recourse to the human rights standards developed within international refugee law (IRL), international humanitarian law (IHL), and international human rights law (IHRL). A common tendency is to equate refugee law and refugee protection with the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the status of Refugees (from here on in the RC). However, analysis illustrates that the problem of refugees and the solutions to those problems cannot be understood unless viewed through a human rights lens, taking into account the various UN human rights Covenants and treaties. In addition, attention must be drawn to the regional arrangements that provide protection to refugees, such as the African Union, the Inter-American Commission and Court, and the European Court for Human Rights.
The definition of Refugee enshrined in Article 1A of the RC remains the corner stone of IRL and represents the minimum standards according to which states are obliged to accord refugee status and the benefits and rights resulting from therein. That this definition is the cornerstone of IRL is not to say that it is universally accepted as adequate. Regional arrangements developed in Africa and Latin America, namely the Convention Governing Specific Problems of Refugees in Africa (from here on in the OAU Convention) and the Cartagena Declaration (CD), have been developed so as to address perceived gaps in protection. Likewise, instruments of international human rights law have protected the rights of refugees and asylum-seekers in those areas where the RC is weak.
It is necessary to begin with a discussion of the RC, not because it necessarily represents a complete, holistic understanding of what it means to be a refugee in this day and age, but rather because it is the only international legally binding treaty whose focus is solely upon refugees and asylum-seekers. The sheer number of states signatory to it is testament to its importance.
1951 Convention and 1967 Protcol Relating to the Status of Refugees UNHCR http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/home/+LwwBmeJAIS_3wwwxFqzvqXsK69s6mFqA72ZR0gRfZNhFqA72ZR0gRfZNtFqrpGdBnqBzFqmRbZAFqA72ZR0gRfZNDzmxwww1FqhuNlg2/opendoc.pdf
Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa (OAU Refugee Convention) 1969 Africa Union http://www.africa-union.org/Official_documents/Treaties_%20Conventions_%20Protocols/Refugee_Convention.pdf
Cartagena Declaration, 1984 http://www.asylumlaw.org/docs/international/CentralAmerica.PDF
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement. http://www.reliefweb.int/ocha_ol/pub/idp_gp/idp.html
Universal Declaration of Human Rights http://www.hrcr.org/docs/universal_decl.html
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights http://www.hrcr.org/docs/Civil&Political/intlcivpol.html
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights http://www.hrcr.org/docs/Economic&Social/intlconv.html
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination http://www.hrcr.org/docs/CERD/cerd.html
UN Convention Against Torture and other Cruel, INhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment http://www.hrweb.org/legal/cat.html
UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women http://www.hrcr.org/docs/CEDAW/cedaw.html
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu3/b/k2crc.htm
African [Banjul] Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights http://www.hrcr.org/docs/Banjul/afrhr.html
African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, Rules of Procedure http://www.hrcr.org/docs/African_Commission/afrcommrules.html
American Convention on Human Rights http://www.hrcr.org/docs/American_Convention/oashr.html
European Convention on Human Rights http://www.hrcr.org/docs/Eur_Convention/euroconv.html
European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment http://www.hrcr.org/docs/Eur_Conv_Torture/eurotort.html
American Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man http://www.hrcr.org/docs/OAS_Declaration/oasrights.html
1949 Geneva Conventions and 1977 Protocols http://www.icrc.org/ihl.nsf/WebCONVFULL?OpenView
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