HRBA Portal

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
The agency is mandated to lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees.

Collection of International Instruments and Legal Texts Concerning Refugees and Others of Concern to UNHCR
This UNHCR collection takes account of the inter-relationship and complementarity between, on the one hand, international refugee law and, on the other, human rights, humanitarian, criminal and other bodies of law.

The Migration Policy Institute
MPI provides analysis, development, and evaluation of migration and refugee policies at the local, national, and international levels. It seeks to advance fair, smart, transparent, and rights-based immigration and refugee policies to promote social cohesion, economic vitality, and national security. The MPI website also offers free access to the World Migration Map Data Tool, which leverages the unique Global Migrant Origin Database so that users can track the origins and destinations of migrants to and from nearly every country in the world.

Migrating Out of Poverty
Migrating out of Poverty provides robust data and evidence on migration drivers, impacts and policies that will contribute to improving policies affecting the lives of migrants, their communities and countries through a programme of innovative research, capacity building and policy engagement.

A range of relevant international standards relating to Migrants, Refugees and IDPs are profiled below.

Migrants

Convention on Migration for Employment (1939, revised 1949)   This Convention provides information on national policies, laws and regulations relating to migrant workers and included special provisions concerning migration for employment and the conditions of work and livelihood of migrants for employment.

International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (1990)  This Convention’s primary objective is to protect migrant workers and their families, a particularly vulnerable population, from exploitation and the violation of their human rights. UNESCO also has an informative webpage discussing this Convention.

Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000)  This UN Protocol seeks to prevent and combat the smuggling of migrants by land, sea andair.  It requires a comprehensive international approach, including cooperation, the exchange of information and other appropriate measures, including socio-economic measures, at the national, regional and international levels.

Declaration on the Human Rights of Individuals Who are not Nationals of the Country in which They Live (1985)  The Declaration was designed to ensure that the fundamental human rights provided in the International Covenants on Human Rights would also be guaranteed to non-citizens.
Forced Labour Convention (1930)
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (1957)
These conventions drafted by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) seek to suppress the use of forced or compulsory labour in all its forms within the shortest possible period.

Refugees

Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (1951)
Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees (1967)
The United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees is the centrepiece of international refugee protection today.  As a post-World War II instrument, the 1951 Convention was originally limited in scope to persons fleeing events occurring before 1951 and within Europe. The 1967 Protocol removed these limitations and thus gave the Convention universal coverage. It has since been supplemented by refugee and subsidiary protection regimes in several regions, as well as via the progressive development of international human rights law.

Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons (1954)
Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness (1961)
The 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the 1961 Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness are key legal instruments in the protection of stateless people around the world and in the prevention and reduction of statelessness.

Cartagena Declaration on Refugees (1984)
The Cartagena Declaration on Refugees sought durable solutions to the problems faced by Central Americans forced to leave their homes as a consequence of violence and regional conflicts during the 1980s.

Declaration on the Human Rights of Individuals Who are not Nationals of the Country in which They Live (1985) The Declaration was designed to ensure that the fundamental human rights provided in the International Covenants on Human Rights would also be guaranteed to non-citizens.

OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa
The OAU Convention complements 1951 Convention.  It seeks to grant asylum to refugees in a peaceful and humanitarian manner, while charging countries of asylum with the responsibility to settle refugees at a reasonable distance from the frontier of their country of origin. This provision was intended to discourage the establishment of refugee camps on borders in an effort to decrease tensions and friction between sending and receiving states.

Fact Sheet No.20, Human Rights and Refugees  This UN Fact Sheet introduces the work of the United Nations and refugees, concepts of international refugee law and other international instruments, an overview of human rights and refugees, instances of violations of human rights and refugees, and concluding remarks.

Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)

African Union (AU) Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention, 2009)  Also known as the ‘Kampala Convention’, this Convention provides ‘durable solutions’ to assisting internally displaced persons by establishing an appropriate legal framework for their protection and assistance.

UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (2004)  This document defines the rights and guarantees relevant to the protection of the internally displaced. The principles provide recommendations to provide protection against arbitrary displacement, offer a basis for protection and assistance during displacement, and set forth methods for safe return, resettlement, and reintegration.

Protocol on the Protection and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons (2006)  This Protocol seeks to establish a legal framework in the Great Lakes Region for ensuring the adoption and implementation by Member States of the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement; Ensure legal protection by Member States of the physical safety and material needs of internally displaced persons in accordance with the Guiding Principles; Provide a legal basis for the domestication of the Guiding Principles into national legislation by Member States; Commit Member States to prevent and eliminate the root causes of displacement.

Special Rapporteur on IDPs

According to Human Rights Council Resolution, the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Internally Displaced Persons is charged with: (1) engaging in coordinated advocacy in favor of the protection and respect of the human rights of IDPs; (2) continuing and enhancing dialogues with Governments as well as non-governmental organizations and other actors; (3) strengthening the international response to internal displacement, and (4) mainstreaming the human rights of IDPs into all relevant parts of the UN system.

View the OHCHR page on the special Rapporteur on IDPs for an overview of areas of activity, annual reports, country visits and relevant international standards and resolutions.  You will also find there ‘issues in focus’ and Q&As about IDPs.