The 1933 Convention was the first international treaty to enshrine the principle of non-refoulement, the legal foundation of modern refugee protection.
Key Facts
- Date signed
- 28 October 1933
- Ratifying states
- 9 states, including France and the United Kingdom
- Governing body
- League of Nations
- Key principle established
- Non-refoulement elevated to international treaty law
- Successor treaty
- 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (UN)
By the Numbers
Cause → Event → Consequence
Growing numbers of stateless and displaced persons in the interwar period, particularly following upheavals in Russia and other European states, pressured the League of Nations to develop binding legal instruments to address the administrative and legal status of refugees beyond voluntary arrangements.
On 28 October 1933, the League of Nations adopted the Convention Relating to the International Status of Refugees. It addressed Nansen certificates, refoulement, legal rights, labour, welfare, education, fiscal matters, and the establishment of refugee committees, and was subsequently ratified by nine states.
By codifying non-refoulement as a treaty obligation, the Convention established a legal precedent that directly shaped the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, the cornerstone of the international refugee protection system now administered by the United Nations.
Political Outcome
The Convention was adopted and ratified by nine states, establishing non-refoulement as international treaty law and creating a framework for refugee administration under the League of Nations.