The role of the UNHCR 141. The work of the UNHCR is based on the 1951 UN Refugee Convention. According to the Convention, States are expected to cooperate with UNHCR in ensuring that the rights of refugees are respected and protected. The protections of the UNHCR apply only to refugees and asylum seekers and not to other migrants. After the agreement between Egypt and Sudan for free movement of people, the UNHCR stopped issuing refugee cards to Sudanese citizens in Egypt, as they were able to enter and live in Egypt freely. 142. The Complainants and Respondent State are in agreement that the UNHCR is at the crux of the events which led up to the unfortunate events of the night of 29 to 30 December 2005. In the first place, it is the failure to resolve the disagreement resulting from the series of demands by the refugees and rejected asylum seekers to the UNHCR which resulted in the three-month sit-in protest. Secondly, it was the UNHCR which had on three different occasions requested the Respondent State to protect it from the protestors, including, according to the Respondent State, requesting for forceful intervention. In addition, the UNHCR was also not able or willing to provide guarantees about the location to which the protestors would be taken, thus making the protestors weary of being removed. The international status of the UNHCR means that the Respondent State cannot be held responsible for any potential violations committed by the UNHCR. In addition, the UNHCR is not itself bound by the provisions of the African Charter. However, the role of the UNHCR may be taken into account when assessing the conduct of both the Respondent State and the Complainants as mitigating circumstances. Refugees, migrants and asylum seekers 143. In the current case the Complainants allege that the group of protestors consisted of “asylum seekers, card carrying refugees and undocumented persons whose status in Egypt was yet to be determined”. On the other hand the Respondent State avers that the protestors included persons who do not meet the refugee criteria as well as illegal migrants. The group of protestors will thus be taken to have consisted of (1) refugees proper, (2) asylum seekers who had been registered as such, and (3) asylum seekers who are yet to register or who had been denied asylum, and who were thus in the country as irregular migrants. The statuses of these groups under international human rights law 36