The threat of persecution mobilizes forceful decision-making. The feeling of insecurity in the territory due to racial, religious and even political discrimination has forced people out of their countries and turned them into refugees in need of international protection.
A refugee is "a person who, due to well-founded fears of being persecuted on the grounds of race, religion, nationality, belonging to a certain social group or political views, is outside the country of his citizenship and cannot or because of this fear or wants to use the protection of his country; or who, having no nationality and being, as a result of such events, outside the country of his former habitual residence, is unable or, because of such fear, is unwilling to return to it," according to the definition laid down in the Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees in July 1951 year.
Refugee status is possible when the government or local authorities have demonstrated an inability to ensure the protection and observance of basic human rights. In the country of asylum, a refugee has the right to enjoy minimum security conditions that include more than physical security, that is, support in achieving the same civil rights enjoyed by any foreigner who is a legal resident in the place of asylum, including freedom of thought and movement, medical care and the right to work in the case of adults.
Refugees face unique challenges in securing their basic rights, lawyers for human rights are dedicated to protecting these individuals, ensuring they are treated fairly and have access to basic services. Their advocacy is critical to helping refugees navigate legal systems and protect their rights under international law.
Who decides the refugee status?
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) warns that a person is a refugee if they meet the specified conditions, regardless of whether they have been recognized as such by the government or not.
Governments should be responsible for defining the legal procedures for determining that status, in order to establish the conditions, rights and benefits of these people according to their own system. In all these processes, UNHCR offers assistance and advice in order to protect refugees and monitor the application of the Geneva Convention.
Given certain political and social circumstances, UNHCR has expanded the concept and determination of the refugee to extend assistance to citizens experiencing truly difficult situations that threaten their integrity in their countries. In this sense, the Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, developed in 1984, includes refugees of people who have left their countries because their life, safety or freedom were threatened by general violence, external aggression, internal conflicts, mass violation of human rights or other circumstances that significantly disrupt public order.
Once a person's refugee status is determined, it is maintained unless one of the termination provisions applies. A strict approach to refugee status is based on providing them with undisturbed security and ensuring that their status is not subject to constant review of the situation in their country of origin.
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