More on the Meaning of ‘Protection’ in the Refugee Definition

Abstract This is a substantive revision of an article that appeared in volume 12 of this journal, in which the author questioned the view that the term ‘protection’ figuring in the refugee definition contained in the 1951 Convention and in the Statute of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refuges alludes to ‘internal protection’, that is, to the protection that States may accord to persons within their territory. The aforementioned article contended that the preparatory works of the instruments and the exegetical analysis of the texts demonstrate that, in those instruments, protection means ‘diplomatic protection’, that is, the protection that States may accord to their nationals abroad. The arguments advanced in that article are significantly bolstered in the present work by drawing on several sources and materials that have received little or no attention in the relevant academic literature.