Since 1983, El Salvador has been a state party to the 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, as well as its 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, which expands the Convention to apply universally and protect all persons fleeing conflict and persecution.

In 2015, El Salvador also acceded to the 1954 Convention relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, which establishes a framework for the international protection of stateless persons. 

El Salvador has also ratified several other international legal instruments that also relate to treatment of refugees, including the:

• International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), ratified in 1979, which sets out protections for a wide range of human rights, including freedom from torture and other cruel, degrading or inhuman punishment, fair trial rights, equality, and non-discrimination. 
• International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), ratified in 1979, which ensures the enjoyment of economic, social, and cultural rights to education, fair and just working conditions, adequate standards of living, social security, and the highest attainable standard of health.
• Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), ratified in 1990, which protects children’s rights and obliges public bodies to consider children’s best interests. 
• Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), ratified in 1981, which sets out provisions to ensure women’s full enjoyment of human rights on an equal basis with men. 
• International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), ratified in 1979, which obliges signatories to take action to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination.
• Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), ratified in 2007, which seeks to eliminate disability discrimination and safeguard the rights of disabled people. 
• International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (CMW), ratified in 2003, which sets standards for national laws and procedures to protect migrant workers’ rights. 
• Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT), ratified in 1996, which requires signatories to take effective measures to prevent acts of torture.

In addition to these international protection frameworks, El Salvador also acceded to the following regional asylum instruments:

• 1928 Havana Convention on Asylum, which establishes the principle of granting asylum to politically persecuted individuals within diplomatic missions.
• 1933 Montevideo Convention on Political Asylum, which provides guidelines for political asylum, particularly regarding protection from extradition and persecution. 
• 1954 Caracas Convention on Territorial Asylum, which defines the conditions under which diplomatic asylum can be granted in embassies or legations. 
• 1984 Cartagena Declaration on Refugees, a non-binding instrument which extends the definition of “refugee” in the 1951 Convention and its 1967 Protocol including to persons who have fled their countries because their life, safety, or freedom have been threatened by widespread violence, foreign aggression, internal conflicts, or massive violations of human rights.
• 2004 Mexico Declaration and Plan of Action, which aims to strengthen refugee protection in Latin America. 

In addition to its obligations under the aforementioned international instruments, El Salvador 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.

El Salvador’s legal Framework for refugee protection is anchored in its Constitution.  

Article 28 of El Salvador’s Constitution states that the country grants asylum to foreigners except in cases defined by Salvadoran or international law. These exceptions exclude persons who are persecuted for political reasons. 

Humanitarian protection and refugee matters are outlined in the Law on the Determination of Refugee Status (Decree 918-2002) (Spanish). It serves as the main legal framework regulating asylum processes in El Salvador. This law defines who qualifies as a refugee, specifies the reasons for seeking asylum, and details the steps for applying and making decisions on asylum claims.

The Decree No. 79 of 2005 – Regulation of the Law on the Determination of Refugee Status (Spanish) supports the Law for the Determination of Refugee Status in El Salvador by defining how asylum applications should be managed and who is responsible for each part of the process.

El Salvador adopted their National Refugee Law (Spanish) in 2002 and its regulatory framework (Spanish) in 2005. Together with the Special Law on Migration and Foreigners (2019) (Spanish) and the Special Law for the Care and Integral Protection of Victims of Violence in Conditions of Forced Displacement (2020) (Spanish), these Instruments form El Salvador’s national legal framework for refugee protection. Decree No. 918 of 2024 (Spanish) to the Special Law on Migration and Foreigners (2019) (Spanish) amends Article 156 of the 2019 law, which regulates who can apply for Salvadoran nationality by naturalization.

Anything related to actions against human trafficking is established in the Special Law against Human Trafficking (Decree 824-2014)  (Spanish).

The Commission for the Determination of Refugee Status (CODER) oversees the Refugee Status Determination (RSD) process, working under the General Directorate for Migration and Foreigners (DGME) and in collaboration with the UNHCR.