Algeria is a state party to several international and regional instruments for refugee protection:

• 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, which provides the internationally recognised definition of a refugee and outlines the legal protection, rights, and assistance a refugee is entitled to receive. 
• 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, which expanded the Convention to apply universally and protect all persons fleeing conflict and persecution.
  1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, which established a framework for the international protection of stateless persons. 
• 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, which established a regional framework for refugee protection in Africa.

Algeria has also ratified several other international legal instruments that also relate to treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW), the Convention Against Torture (CAT), the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights, and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

In addition to its obligations under the aforementioned international instruments, Algeria is obligated to respect the international customary legal principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits any country from deporting any person to a country where they face the threat of persecution.

Algeria’s only national legislative instrument for refugee protection is Decree No. 63-274 of 25 July 1963, which established the Bureau Algérien pour les Réfugiés et Apatrides (BAPRA) to implement the 1951 Refugee Convention. However, due to the absence of comprehensive asylum legislation, administrative procedures, and institutional capacity, BAPRA has not developed into a functioning asylum system and is unable to fully carry out its mandated responsibilities.

Therefore UNHCR Algeria is conducting Refugee Status Determination procedures in Algeria. The UNHCR Help Page for Algeria can be consulted for further information about seeking asylum in Algeria.