The Convention conceives of refugee status as a transitory phenomenon that comes to an end if and when a refugee can reclaim the protection of her own state or has secured an alternative form of enduring national protection. Because the purpose of refugee law is to afford surrogate protection pending the resumption or establishment of meaningful national protection, the cessation clauses in Art. 1(C) of the Convention define various situations in which refugee status may come to an end.

The first sub-chapter therefore considers the applicability of cessation where there is evidence of a refugee’s decision to reclaim the protection of her own country; where an objective assessment by the host country determines that the country of origin has undergone such a fundamental change of circumstances that it can be relied upon to resume its duty of protection; or where the refugee has acquired the nationality of another state that will protect her. In each of these situations, cessation “takes effect naturally,” since the rationale for imposing a duty of substitute national protection on an asylum state will have come to an end.