Exclusion from Refugee Status: The Purposes and Principles of the United Nations and Article 1F(c) of the Refugee Convention

Abstract

Article 1F(c) of the Refugee Convention provides that an individual is to be excluded from the benefits afforded by refugee status if ‘there are serious reasons for considering that ... he has been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations’. This phrase has proven difficult to interpret, not least because of the differing views on its meaning at the time of drafting, and the lack of another body of law to which article 1F(c) can attach. Accordingly, different states have found that different acts fall within the provision. This assessment is largely carried out on a case-by-case basis and in an unstructured manner. This article explores the acts that have been held to fall within article 1F(c) - primarily human rights violations, terrorism, and attacks on UN personnel - and critiques some of the thorny legal issues to which these acts have given rise. It then offers a framework for assessing whether a particular act falls within article 1F(c). 1. In TR odu CTI on The need to protect individuals fleeing from persecution and grant them the protec tions afforded by refugee status has to be balanced against excluding those who are ‘undeserving’ of that protection. This is done most authoritatively in article 1 of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. Article 1A sets out the notion of a refugee while article 1F provides that refugee status and the benefits that follow from it shall not apply to certain individuals. An individual is excluded if ‘there are serious reasons for considering that’ (a) he has committed a crime against peace, a war crime, or a crime against humanity; (b) he has committed a serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge prior to admission as a refugee; or (c) ‘he has been guilty of acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations’.