Editing Refugee (section)

===Refugee status determination===
[[File:The Sahrawi refugees&nbsp;– a forgotten crisis in the Algerian desert (7).jpg|thumb|For over 30 years, several tens of thousands of [[Sahrawi people|Sahrawi]] refugees have been living in the region of [[Tindouf, Algeria]], in the heart of the desert.]]
{{see|Refugee law#Refugee status determination|Asylum seeker#Status determination processes}}
To receive refugee status, a displaced person must go through a Refugee Status Determination (RSD) process, which is conducted by the government of the country of asylum or the UNHCR, and is based on [[Refugee law|international, regional]] or national law.{{sfn|Refugee Status Determination}} RSD can be done on a case-by-case basis as well as for whole groups of people. Which of the [[Asylum seeker#Status determination processes|two processes]] is used often depends on the size of the influx of displaced persons.
[[File:Schnorr von Carolsfeld Bibel in Bildern 1860 117.png|thumb|After challenging Queen Jezebel, Elijah takes refuge in a cave until the voice of God calls him in this 1860 woodcut by [[Julius Schnorr von Karolsfeld]].]]
There is no specific method mandated for RSD (apart from the commitment to the [[1951 Refugee Convention]]) and it is subject to the overall efficacy of the country's internal administrative and judicial system as well as the characteristics of the refugee flow to which the country responds. This lack of a procedural direction could create a situation where political and strategic interests override humanitarian considerations in the RSD process.{{sfn|Higgins|2016|pp=71–93}} There are also no fixed interpretations of the elements in the [[1951 Refugee Convention]] and countries may interpret them differently (see also [[refugee roulette]]).

However, in 2013, the UNHCR conducted them in more than 50 countries and co-conducted them parallel to or jointly with governments in another 20 countries, which made it the second largest RSD body in the world{{sfn|Refugee Status Determination}} The UNHCR follows a set of guidelines described in the ''Handbook and Guidelines on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status'' to determine which individuals are eligible for refugee status.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.unhcr.org/4d93528a9.pdf|title=Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees |publisher=UNHCR |year=1979 |orig-year=Reedited, Geneva, January 1992}}</ref>