ISSN 2039-2117 (online) ISSN 2039-9340 (print) Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences MCSER Publishing, Rome-Italy Vol 6 No 2 March 2015 460 How Far the Definition of a Refugee under the Refugee Convention 1951 Protects the Victims of Human Rights Abuses? A Review in the Light of Legislation and Case Law of the UK Md. Salahuddin Mahmud Advocate, Chittagong District Bar Association, Bangladesh and Legal Expert Email: brsmjewel@yahoo.com Doi:10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n2p460 Abstract The goal of this study is to examine how far the definition of a refugee under the Refugee Convention 1951 protects the victims of human rights abuses. Since time immemorial, torture, inhuman and degrading treatment, religious and political persecution and other violations of human rights have forced people to flee. Thousands of people face persecution worldwide, often due to their religious or political belief, their race or nationality, or other fundamental quality such as their gender and sexuality. To support the victims of this problem the 1951 Refugee Convention was introduced. The purpose of refugee law is to protect people in this position. Nowadays, main causes of refugee movements are armed conflict, large-scale human rights abuses and environmental degradation. I am of the positive and proactive opinion that, as the 1951 Refugee Convention was created for the purpose of giving protection to a specific category of people, thus a large number of victims of the human rights abuses are excluded from the protection. However, it could be possible to protect the victims of human rights abuses sufficiently, if the definition of refugee under the 1951 Refugee Convention is amended through wide interpretation and explanation. In this article doctrinal research method has been applied primarily. This research method has provided various primary and secondary sources to fulfil the purpose of the study. Keywords: Convention, Human Rights Abuses, Persecution, Protect, Refugee, Well-founded Fear, Victim. Introduction 1. The practice of granting asylum to people feeling persecution in foreign land is one of the earliest hallmarks of civilization. Reference to it have been found in 3,500 years ago, during the blossoming of the great early empires in the Middle East such as Hittites, Babylonians, Assyrians and Ancient Egyptians (UNHCR, Ghana, 1994). The refugee problem is nowadays an important global issue. Throughout the world and over the centuries, societies have welcomed the frightened, weary strangers, the victim of the prosecution and violence. Therefore, to protect the refugees from such situations in 1951 the United Nations introduced a Convention, particularly in relation to refugees, which is known as the UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees 1951. This Convention was updated by 1967 Protocol, which removed the time restriction and promoted a gradual removal of the geographical restriction but the refugee definition was not changed. As of 1 October 2002, 141 countries had ratified the Refugee Convention. A detail discussion is necessary to determine the extent whether the definition of a refugee under the 1951 Refugee Convention protects the victims of human rights abuses. Definition of a Refugee: 2. In general, a refugee is a person who takes refuge in another country for fear of persecution or threat to his/ her life. However, the legal definition of a refugee is enshrined in the 1951 Refugee Convention. Article 1(A)( 2) of the 1951 Refugee Convention provides that a ‘refugee’ is a person who: “owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of his former habitual residence . . . is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it” (Clayton, 2012, p.445). In the European Union this definition is now applied by virtue of Refugee Qualification Directive 2004/83/EC (Nadine, 1998, p.321). The Organization of Africa Unity (OAU) Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problem in Africa, a regional treaty adopted in 1967, added to the definition found in the 1951 Convention to include a more objectively based consideration, namely- “Any person compelled to leave