The Promise at 75: Honoring the Refugee Convention Means Protecting Everyone

Melanie Nathan, Executive Director , JULY 28, 2026

Today marks the 75th Anniversary of the 1951 Refugee Convention, one of the most important human rights instruments ever adopted. Born from the devastation of the Second World War, the Convention embodies a simple but profound promise: that no person should be denied protection simply because they have been forced to flee persecution.

For seventy-five years, that promise has stood as the cornerstone of international refugee protection. It reminds us that human dignity does not end at a border, and that the principle of non-refoulement, never returning a person to persecution, is not merely an aspiration, but one of the crucial foundations of international law.

On this anniversary, the African Human Rights Coalition (AHRC) joins UNHCR in recognizing "The Promise", a global call to renew our commitment to refugee protection at a time when more people are forcibly displaced than at any point in modern history.

We extend our profound gratitude to UNHCR, its staff, partners, and humanitarian workers around the world who continue, often with diminishing resources and under extraordinary pressure, to protect some of the world's most vulnerable people. Every day we witness their dedication, professionalism, and humanity.

Yet anniversaries are not only moments for celebration. They are moments for honesty.

At AHRC, we have worked alongside refugees from across Africa for almost 2 decades. We have seen remarkable generosity from many countries that host hundreds of thousands, even millions, of refugees despite limited resources. Their willingness to provide sanctuary deserves recognition and respect.

But we have also witnessed a painful contradiction.

Across parts of Africa, governments that have accepted obligations under the Refugee Convention continue to deny meaningful and safe protection to LGBTQI+ refugees, often engaging in refoulement of people, back to the persecution, torture, and life or death situations from which they had fled. Individuals fleeing persecution because of their sexual orientation or gender identity are too often labelled criminals rather than recognized as refugees. They are excluded from protection, subjected to violence, denied services, arbitrarily detained, or pressured to conceal who they are in order to survive.

Criminalization does not merely punish LGBTQI+ people. It acts as a catalyst for persecution. It licenses discrimination, emboldens violence, and destroys the very protection that the Refugee Convention promises to all people without discrimination.

The Convention does not distinguish between "deserving" and "undeserving" refugees. Its promise belongs to everyone.

The same honesty must also be directed toward wealthier nations:

Around the world, we are witnessing an erosion of asylum systems through deterrence policies, prolonged detention, accelerated procedures that undermine due process, externalization of refugee responsibilities, shrinking resettlement opportunities, and diminishing humanitarian funding.

In the United States, recent restrictive immigration and asylum policies, the expansion of detention, barriers to protection, and reductions in humanitarian support have profoundly affected people seeking refuge. Refugees are too often treated as security threats rather than human beings fleeing persecution. Such approaches move us further from, not closer to the promise made seventy-five years ago.

At the same time, devastating cuts to humanitarian funding have left UNHCR and its partners struggling to provide food, shelter, healthcare, legal assistance, and protection across the globe. We see the consequences every day in our work with displaced LGBTQI+ refugees throughout Africa. The need has never been greater, while the resources available have rarely been more constrained.

The answer to unprecedented displacement cannot be diminished compassion.

It must be renewed solidarity.

Today, AHRC calls upon:

• Governments across Africa to honor their Refugee Convention obligations equally and without discrimination, ensuring that LGBTQI+ refugees receive the same protection afforded to every other refugee.

• The United States and other donor nations to restore leadership and our honor in refugee protection by pursuing policies that uphold dignity, due process, humane treatment, and meaningful access to asylum.

• The international community to strengthen, not weaken, support for UNHCR and humanitarian organizations through sustained funding, international cooperation, and renewed political commitment.

• Civil society, legal professionals, and advocates to continue defending the principle of non-refoulement and the rule of law whenever they are threatened.

• All Citizens of all Nations - otherwise uninvolved to invoke the adage "there but for the grace of God go I.." and become engaged in outreach through invoking your power as voters and as humanitarians.
  

The Refugee Convention is not merely a historical document. It is a living promise for all.

Its strength has never depended solely on the words written in 1951. It depends on whether governments choose to honor those words today.

On this seventy-fifth anniversary, let us recommit ourselves to ensuring that protection is never selective, dignity is never conditional, and refuge is never denied because of who someone is, and that we will always "welcome the stranger."

The Promise belongs to us all.

UNHCR THE PROMISE: From the ashes of the Second World War came a solemn promise: a promise to protect people forced to flee war, violence, and persecution. Today, with forced displacement at record levels, we must renew that promise. This is one of the defining challenges of our time. But it is also a test of our shared humanity. We can and must respond.

Behind the numbers are real people whose lives have been uprooted. Yet their talents, experiences, and ambitions remain. Being a refugee should be only a chapter in a person’s life, not their whole life story. Most refugees stay as close to their home countries as they can, often in communities already facing immense pressure. That is where we must act first. Not with aid alone, but with opportunity. Not only helping people survive but enabling them to rebuild their lives and forge better futures.

We affirm our commitment to a world where:

• Safety is a certainty: Everyone has the right to seek safety from war, violence, and persecution.

• Refugees are included: Refugees belong in our communities, schools, and workplaces, where they can find opportunities and contribute to the societies that host them.

• Solutions are swift: Whether it’s integration, a fresh start in a new country, or a safe return home, we seek to resolve displacement right from the start.

• We act together: From governments to local communities, global institutions to town halls, boardrooms to faith groups, businesses to civil society, we all play our part in making a difference.
  

We stand by the promise of the Refugee Convention. We choose action, compassion and solidarity. Until everyone is safe.