The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), Article 14 states:
Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.
During the Second World War, millions of people were forced from their homes and countries. In response, the international community steadily assembled a set of guidelines, laws and conventions aimed at protecting the basic human rights and treatment of people forced to flee conflict and persecution.
The 1951 League of Nations Convention consolidated and expanded on previous international instruments relating to refugees and continues to provide the most comprehensive codification of the rights of refugees at the international level.
According to the 1951 Convention, a refugee is someone who ”owing to 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 their nationality and is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail themselves of the protection of that country; or who, not having a nationality and being outside the country of their former habitual residence, is unable or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to return to it.
The cornerstone of the 1951 Convention is the principle of non-refoulement contained in Article 33. According to this principle, a refugee should not be returned to a country where they face serious threats to their life or freedom.
Other rights contained in the 1951 Convention include:
The right not to be expelled, except under certain, strictly defined conditions (Article 32)
The right not to be punished for irregular entry into the territory of a contracting State (Article 31)
The right to non-discrimination (Articles 3 and 5)
The right to decent work (Articles 17 to 19 and 24)
The right to housing, land and property, including intellectual property (Articles 13, 14 and 21)
The right to education (Article 22)
The right to freedom of religion (Article 4)
The right to access to justice (Article 16)
The right to freedom of movement within the territory (Article 26 and Article 31 (2))
The right to be issued civil, identity and travel documents (Articles 12, 27 and 28)
The right to social protection (Articles 23 and 24 (2-4)).
UNHCR https://www.unhcr.org/about-unhcr/overview/1951-refugee-convention
On June 4, 1969 Canada acceded to these laws.