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DEFENDERS
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are parties only to the Convention,
while Cape Verde, the United States of
America and Venezuela are parties only
to the Protocol.
UNHCR: The UN refugee agency
emerged in the wake of World War II
to help Europeans displaced by that
conflict. Optimistically, the Office of the
United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees was established on December
14, 1950 by the United Nations General
Assembly with a three-year mandate
to complete its work and then disband.
The following year, on July 28, the
United Nations Convention relating
to the Status of Refugees - the legal
foundation of helping refugees and the
basic statute guiding UNHCR's work -
was adopted.
By 1956 UNHCR was facing its first
major emergency, the outpouring of
refugees when Soviet forces crushed the
Hungarian Revolution. Any expectation
thatUNHCRwouldbecomeunnecessary
has never resurfaced. In the 1960s, the
decolonization of Africa produced the
first of that continent's numerous refugee
crises needing UNHCR intervention.
Over the following two decades,
UNHCR had to help with displacement
crises in Asia and Latin America. By
the end of the century there were fresh
refugee problems in Africa and, turning
full circle, new waves of refugees in
Europe from the series of wars in the
Balkans.
The start of the 21st Century has seen
UNHCR helping with major refugee
crises in Africa, such as the Democratic
Republic of the Congo and Somalia,
and Asia, especially the 30-year-old
Afghan refugee problem. At the same
time, UNHCR has been asked to use its
expertise to also help many internally
displaced by conflict. Less visibly, it
has expanded its role in helping stateless
people, a largely overlooked group
numbering millions of people in danger
of being denied basic rights because they
donot haveanycitizenship. Insomeparts
of the world, such as Africa and Latin
America, the original 1951 mandate
has been strengthened by agreement on
regional legal instruments.
In 1954, the new organization won
the Nobel Peace Prize for its ground-
breaking work in helping the refugees
of Europe. Its mandate had just been
extended until the end of the decade.
More than a quarter century later,
UNHCR received the 1981 award
for what had become worldwide
assistance to refugees, with the citation
noting the political obstacles facing
the organization. From only 34 staff
members when UNHCR was founded,
it now has more than 9,300 national and
internationalmembers of staff, including
over 1,050 in UNHCR's Geneva and
Budapest Headquarters. The agency
works in 125 countries, with staff based
in 109 main locations such as regional
and branch offices and 341 often remote
sub-offices and field offices.
Bureau of Aliens and Foreign
Immigrants Affairs: is the main official
and government body in Iran who is
responsible for foreign nationals in
Iran.