Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951

SUMMARY: The facts: —Mr and Mrs Cheng, who were nationals of the People's Republic of China, had five children despite the restrictions on family size imposed by birth control legislation. Having entered France, they applied for recognition as refugees under the provisions of the Geneva Convention of 1951 and the New York Protocol of 1967, arguing that the Chinese authorities would punish them for the birth of their last child by forced sterilization. Their application was rejected by the French Office for the Protection of Refugees (OFPRA) and the Refugee Appeals Commission. They then applied to the Conseil dEtat for those decisions to be quashed.