Glossary

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR, or HCR in French-speaking countries), based in Geneva, is a programme of the United Nation s. Its aim from the outset has been to protect refugees, find a lasting solution to their problems and ensure that the 1951 Geneva Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees is applied.

Pursuant to Article L.511-1 of the French Code for Entry and Residence of Foreigners and Right of Asylum (CESEDA) "refugee status is to be accorded to any person [...] on whom the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees exercises its mandate under the terms of Articles 6 and 7 of its Statute as adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 14 December 1950 [...]". Refugee status is therefore granted automatically, although Ofpra must make sure that the asylum seeker is still placed under UNHCR's mandate.

United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. This was the first post-war international organisation, and an inter-Allied and civilian mutual-aid organisation of an essentially technical nature, set up in November 1943. At the time, the expression United Nations referred to the Allied powers rather than the international organisation that would be set up in time. In agreement with the Allied military authorities, UNRRA particularly took responsibility for providing supplies and for the repatriation to their home countries of prisoners and persons deported during the war. It was closed down on 31 March 1949.
 

United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.