The Law of War

The 1976 Council of Europe's Recommendation 773 (1976) on the Situation of
de facto Refugees
The 1984 Cartagena Declaration on Refugees for Latin America and its three
successors:
o The 1994 Declaration of San José
o The 2004 Mexico Declaration
o The 2014 Brazil Declaration
The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child
The 1998 Conclusion on International Protection by the Executive Committee of
the High Commissioner's Program
The 2001 Declaration by States Parties to the 1951 Convention and/or its 1967
Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees
The 2004 European Union's Council Directive on minimum standards for the
qualification and status of third country nationals and stateless persons as
refugees or as persons who otherwise need international protection and content
of the protection granted
The 2016 New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants
U.S. Refugee Law
Various regions and countries have different variations of refugee law. They all stem
from the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol which relates to refugee status. The
United States became a party to this protocol in 1968.
Despite playing an active role in the drafting of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child, the United States has yet to ratify the treaty, making it the only nation in the UN
that is not party to it. See also: U.S. ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the
Child
Although the aftermath of World War II brought forth a refugee crisis, the large influx
and resettlement of Indochinese refugees led to the passage of the Refugee Act of
1980. This law incorporated the International Convention's definitions of a refugee into
U.S. law. The law also created the legal basis for the admission of refugees into the
U.S. An important aspect of this law is how an individual goes about applying for status.
A person may meet the definition of refugee but may not be granted refugee status. If
the individual is inside of the U.S. with a different status or no status, he or she is
granted the status of asylee but not refugee.
In order to be considered a refugee in the U.S., an individual must:
be located outside of the U.S.
be of specific humanitarian apprehension for the U.S.
is able to validate previous persecution or feared approaching persecution based
on their race, religion, nationality, social class, or political outlook
not be currently settled in another country
be admissible to the U.S.
Page 228 of 265