The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, with
just one “amending” and updating Protocol adopted in 1967 (on
which, see further below), is the central feature in today’s
international regime of refugee protection, and some 144 States
(out of a total United Nations membership of 192) have now
ratified either one or both of these instruments (as of August
2008). The Convention, which entered into force in 1954, is by
far the most widely ratified refugee treaty, and remains central
also to the protection activities of the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). In the aftermath of the
Second World War, refugees and displaced persons were high on
the international agenda. At its first session in 1946, the
United Nations General Assembly recognized not only the urgency
of the problem, but also the cardinal principle that “no
refugees or displaced persons who have finally and definitely
... expressed valid objections to returning to their countries
of origin ... shall be compelled to re