ABSTRACT
The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees shows few outward signs of desuetude. On the contrary, in 1993 alone the Convention and its 1967 Protocol gained ten new parties, bringing the total number of contracting States to 127 as of 1994. Pragmatic refugee advocates, recognizing the erosion in support for the Convention among traditional asylum States, sometimes join in the call for a new regime. The challenge for policy makers and refugee advocates is to cure those flaws in the Convention framework that impede effective protection of today's vast number and variety of forced migrants, without eliminating the Convention's greatest assets, its binding legal status and the norm of nonrefoulement. The Convention lacks explicit mention of important substantive protections for asylum-seekers, including the right to receive asylum, and the right of admission. The Refugee Convention's lack of detailed provisions concerning obligations that States owe to one another reduces its value as a framework for resolving contemporary refugee crises.
