战争总是有平民受害者。但正是20世纪初的两次世界大战的规模促使各国政府制定国际法来保护一些因战争而流离失所的人。1951年7月28日，联合国通过了《关于难民地位的公约》，并于1954年生效。这通常被称为“难民公约”，提供了一套关于如何对待逃离迫害的人的指导方针。那么，谁符合《公约》对“难民”的定义，谁又不符合？他们有权得到什么保护？
The Refugee Convention defines a refugee as “someone who is unable or unwilling to return to their country of origin owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.” The fundamental provision of the document is that of “non-refoulement”, which prohibits sending people back to countries where they face a “credible” threat of persecution.
《难民公约》将难民定义为“因种族、宗教、国籍、特定社会群体的成员身份或政治观点而有充分理由害怕受到迫害而不能或不愿返回原籍国的人”。该文件的基本条款是“不遣返”条款，该条款禁止将面临“可信的”迫害威胁的人们遣返回国。
The document also demands that countries will not punish refugees who entered their countries illegally, if they arrived “directly” from the place they were threatened. The convention also outlines refugees’ rights to work, housing and education in their host countries. Over time, tribunals in various countries have broadened their interpretation of the convention. The rights conferred by the convention are buttressed by other human-rights treaties, such as the convention against torture.
如果他们是从受到威胁的地方“直接”抵达各国的话，该文件还要求各国不会惩罚非法入境的难民。该公约还概述了难民在收容国的工作、住房和教育权利。随着时间的推移，各国的法庭扩大了对公约的解释。该公约赋予的权利受到了其他人权条约的支持，如《禁止酷刑公约》。
