Sapphire jewelry. They also may be created synthetically in laboratories for industrial or decorative purposes in large crystal boules. Because of the remarkable hardness of sapphires – 9 on the Mohs scale (the third hardest mineral, after diamond at 10 and moissanite at 9.5) – sapphires are also used in some non-ornamental applications, such as infrared optical components, high-durability windows, wristwatch crystals and movement bearings, and very thin electronic wafers, which are used as the insulating substrates of very special-purpose solid-state electronics (especially integrated circuits and GaN-based LEDs). Sapphire is the birthstone for September and the gem of the 45th anniversary.
Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees the temporal and geographic restrictions. This was needed in the historical context of refugee flows resulting from decolonisation. However, the Protocol gave those states which had previously ratified the 1951 Convention and chosen to use the geographically restricted definition the option to retain that restriction. Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees The Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees is a key treaty in international refugee law. It entered into force on 4 October 1967, and 146 countries are parties. Where the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees had restricted refugee status to those whose