55
it “the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency” (UNRRA) (UNRRA
Agreement 1943; Fox 1950). When the UN was institutionalized in 1945, it took
over the agency. UNRRA operated broadly across Europe and in China until 1948,
working with displaced persons of every kind except ethnic Germans or ethnic
Japanese, whatever their plight. Resettling and nurturing the latter groups became a
problem solely for two nations already destitute after losing the war.
In 1946, member states of the UN drafted a treaty to create the International
Refugee Organization (IRO Constitution 1946). After 26 states ratified it, the
Organization began operating in 1948. As with UNRRA, the Organization operated
extensively in Europe and eastern Asia, again excluding ethnic Germans and ethnic
Japanese. Once the displaced persons from World War II were resettled, it ceased to
operate in 1953. A broader responsibility for refugees across the world was passed
onto the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, an office created by
resolution of the General Assembly in 1950 (Statute of UNHCR 1950). UNHCR
was, and is, authorized to provide international protection and assistance on a nonpolitical, humanitarian basis to refugees everywhere, while seeking permanent solutions for them. Today it is responsible for about 70,000,000 people “in need of
protection,” 26,000,000 of whom it considers refugees in the formal sense (UNCHR
Figures at a Glance 2019).
It was against this background that the member states of the United Nations
drafted the UN Convention on the Status of Refugees (1951 Convention). It came
into force in 1954 for Europe and eastern Asia (again excluding Germans and
Japanese) and was set to expire when all persons who became refugees before 1
January 1951 were resettled. Today it has been ratified by 145 states (the ethnic,
geographic, and temporal limits were dropped by a 1967 protocol). The US has ratified the protocol, but not the convention.
Under the convention, a refugee is defined as “a person with a well-founded fear
of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion,” so long as the persons are outside country
of their nationality and are unable to or, owing to such fear, are unwilling to accept
the protection of that country or to return to it (1951 Convention, art. 1).
4
Excluded
from this definition are economic or environmental refugees (in 1951, the possibility of environmental refugees had not yet been acknowledged).
The convention sets forth the rights and duties of refugees. The only duty for
refugees is to obey the laws of receiving states (art. 2). In contrast, extensive rights
are recognized for refugees. They have the right to:
1) Have their personal status (marriage, etc.) recognized (art. 12);
2) Free access to courts and to administrative assistance (arts. 16, 25);
3) Free movement and choice of residence within the country (art. 26);
4) Identity papers and travel documents (arts. 27, 28); and
5) The possibility of assimilating and naturalizing (art. 34).
4 If the refugee is stateless (without any nationality), the relevant country is the refugee’s former
place of habitual resident.
Refugees at Sea in a Hostile World
it “the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Agency” (UNRRA) (UNRRA
Agreement 1943; Fox 1950). When the UN was institutionalized in 1945, it took
over the agency. UNRRA operated broadly across Europe and in China until 1948,
working with displaced persons of every kind except ethnic Germans or ethnic
Japanese, whatever their plight. Resettling and nurturing the latter groups became a
problem solely for two nations already destitute after losing the war.
In 1946, member states of the UN drafted a treaty to create the International
Refugee Organization (IRO Constitution 1946). After 26 states ratified it, the
Organization began operating in 1948. As with UNRRA, the Organization operated
extensively in Europe and eastern Asia, again excluding ethnic Germans and ethnic
Japanese. Once the displaced persons from World War II were resettled, it ceased to
operate in 1953. A broader responsibility for refugees across the world was passed
onto the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, an office created by
resolution of the General Assembly in 1950 (Statute of UNHCR 1950). UNHCR
was, and is, authorized to provide international protection and assistance on a nonpolitical, humanitarian basis to refugees everywhere, while seeking permanent solutions for them. Today it is responsible for about 70,000,000 people “in need of
protection,” 26,000,000 of whom it considers refugees in the formal sense (UNCHR
Figures at a Glance 2019).
It was against this background that the member states of the United Nations
drafted the UN Convention on the Status of Refugees (1951 Convention). It came
into force in 1954 for Europe and eastern Asia (again excluding Germans and
Japanese) and was set to expire when all persons who became refugees before 1
January 1951 were resettled. Today it has been ratified by 145 states (the ethnic,
geographic, and temporal limits were dropped by a 1967 protocol). The US has ratified the protocol, but not the convention.
Under the convention, a refugee is defined as “a person with a well-founded fear
of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion,” so long as the persons are outside country
of their nationality and are unable to or, owing to such fear, are unwilling to accept
the protection of that country or to return to it (1951 Convention, art. 1).
4
Excluded
from this definition are economic or environmental refugees (in 1951, the possibility of environmental refugees had not yet been acknowledged).
The convention sets forth the rights and duties of refugees. The only duty for
refugees is to obey the laws of receiving states (art. 2). In contrast, extensive rights
are recognized for refugees. They have the right to:
1) Have their personal status (marriage, etc.) recognized (art. 12);
2) Free access to courts and to administrative assistance (arts. 16, 25);
3) Free movement and choice of residence within the country (art. 26);
4) Identity papers and travel documents (arts. 27, 28); and
5) The possibility of assimilating and naturalizing (art. 34).
4 If the refugee is stateless (without any nationality), the relevant country is the refugee’s former
place of habitual resident.
Refugees at Sea in a Hostile World