The Israeli Roots of Article 3 and Article 6 of the 1951 Refugee Convention

Abstract

This article examines the pivotal role and personal interconnections of a close-knit group of like-minded diplomats who, driven by humanitarian motives, drafted Article 3 and Article 6 of the 1951 Refugee Convention. It is argued that this network of diplomats, led by the Convention President Knud Larsen, was coordinated by the international jurist Dr Jacob Robinson, and further included the UK, the US, and the Jewish NGO representatives as its participants. Robinson’s hitherto unpublished diplomatic correspondence with the then Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett confirms the humanitarian motivations underpinning the premeditated and well-planned efforts of the members of this network to ensure the success of the Convention in ameliorating the legal conditions of refugees. Jacob Robinson’s humanitarian motivations are further revealed through an examination of his attitudes towards Palestinian refugees uncovered in additional archive material detailing his correspondence with Sharett concerning the Palestinian refugee problem.

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