country of asylum; (c) resettlement in a third country; and (d) cessation of refugee status because there are no longer compelling reasons for an individual to refuse to avail themselves of the protection of their country of origin.

# **Box 2: Legal Definition of Refugees**

The **1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees** (1951 Convention), later amended by the 1967 Protocol,<sup>14</sup> defines refugees primarily in terms of their vulnerability due to the denial of state protection (Reid 2005) as “a person who is outside his or her country of nationality or habitual residence; has a well-founded fear of being persecuted because of his or her race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion; and is unable or unwilling to avail him or herself of the protection of that country, or to return there, for fear of persecution.” Individuals who fulfill the definition of refugees are entitled to the rights and are bound by the duties set out in the 1951 Convention, most significantly the rights to non-discrimination, non-penalization and nonrefoulement (which prohibits the return of a refugee to a territory where their life or freedom is threatened).

In Africa, the **1969 Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa** (OAU Convention)<sup>15</sup> expands the definition of refugees to people who are forced to flee due to “external aggression, occupation, foreign domination or events seriously disturbing public order in either part or the whole of his country of origin or nationality.” It introduces objective criteria for determining refugee status that are based on the conditions prevailing in the country of origin (including situations beyond deliberate state action) and eliminates the requirement that a person establish an individual risk of persecution.

In Latin America, the **1984 Cartagena Declaration on Refugees** (Cartagena Declaration), which was heavily influenced by the OAU Convention, similarly expands the definition of refugees to include “persons who have fled their country because their lives, safety or freedom have been threatened by generalized violence, foreign aggression, internal conflicts, massive violations of human rights or other circumstances which have seriously disturbed public order.” Statistics on refugees do not always conform to legal definitions. UNHCR leads global efforts to collect and compile data on refugees, relying on individual registration or data provided by host governments. Data are generally provided to UNHCR by host governments based on their own definitions and methods of data collection, which tend to vary across countries and can lead to substantial variations in aggregate numbers. For example, people of certain nationalities may be recognized as refugees by some host countries but not by others and some countries consider the children of refugees to be refugees themselves, while other countries accord them a different status.<sup>16</sup> Moreover, countries do not methodically report statistics on voluntary returns, naturalization and resettlement.

> 14 The 1967 Protocol expanded the application of the 1951 Convention beyond the protection of European refugees following World War II.

> 15 Adopted by the Organization of African Unity, now the African Union (AU) on September 10, 1969, and entered into force on June 20, 1974. There are 54 AU member states.

> 16 In addition to persons recognized as refugees under the 1951 Convention, 1967 Protocol and OAU Convention, UNHCR data also include persons recognized as refugees in accordance with the UNHCR Statute, persons granted a complementary or subsidiary form of protection and those granted temporary protection. UNHCR statistics also include people in refugee-like situations, i.e. individuals outside their country or territory of origin who face protection risks similar to those of refugees, but for whom refugee status has, for practical or other reasons, not been ascertained, for example 200,000 undocumented Rohingya in Bangladesh originating from Myanmar.