Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa


The Organisation of African Unity Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, also called the OAU Refugee Convention, or the 1969 Refugee Convention, is regional legal instrument governing refugee protection in Africa. It comprises 15 articles and was enacted in Addis Ababa on September 10, 1969 and entered into forced on June 20, 1974. It builds on the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol and it has influenced the 1984 Cartagena Declaration and the 2009 Kampala Convention. The 1969 Refugee Convention's historical context is the era of decolonization, Apartheid, as well as internal political and military uprisings.
It was signed by 41 states or governments and has currently been ratified by 45 of the 54 member states of the African Union. It is the only binding, regional legal instrument on refugee issues in the developing world and a regional complement of the 1951 Refugee Convention.

Legal innovations

The 1969 Refugee Convention has made some significant advances from the 1951 Refugee Convention.
The 1969 Refugee Convention expanded the 1951 definition of who is a refugee: