Whatsapp

" MERITS OF ACCESSION TO THE REFUGEE CONVENTION OF 1951 AND ITS PROTOCOL OF 1967   MERITS OF ACCESSION TO THE REFUGEE CONVENTION OF 1951 AND ITS PROTOCOL OF 1967   By   Mr. Justice Ali Nawaz Chowhan*   * The author has been an International Judge of the United Nations at The Hague, Permanent Judge of the Lahore High Court, a visiting Professor and Co-Chairman of UNESCO Appeal (Judicial) Board-Paris, France. Email:chowhan2alhotmail.com   On 28th July 1951, The Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees was approved at a special United Nations conference and entered into force on 22nd April 1954. In 1967 The Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees was promulgated for the purpose of expanding the scope of the Convention, to include more than just the people affected by the Second World War in Europe. As a result of this the protections afforded under the Convention could now be awarded to persons in any part of the world, afflicted by any conflict without geographical or time-related restraints. Due to the similarity in, rights and obligations under the Convention and Protocol, a State has the liberty to accede to the Protocol directly without having first ratified the Convention.   Pakistan has seen the arrival of different waves of Afghan refugees during the last several decades posing a refugee and a humanitarian problem. It is managing one of the greatest refugee problems in history but paradoxically it is not a signatory to the ratification of the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol. It is therefore resolving the emerging issues through an ad hoc basis and a discretionary policy arising out of non-signing either the 1951 Refugee Convention or its 1967 Protocol.   The decision taken by the Government of Pakistan…