“Non-refoulement is a concept which prohibits States from returning a refugee or asylum seeker to territories where there is a risk that his or her life or freedom would be threatened on account of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.”
Lauterpacht, Elihu and Daniel Bethlehem, “The Scope and Content of the Principle of Non-Refoulement: Opinion”, in Refugee Protection in International Law: UNHCR’s Global Consultations on International Protection (edited by Erika Feller, Volker Türk and Frances Nicholson, Cambridge University Press, 2003).
French translation: Refoulement
Its legal basis comes from the Refugee Convention – Article 33 – Prohibition of expulsion or return (“refoulement”)
1. No Contracting State shall expel or return (” refouler “) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
2. The benefit of the present provision may not, however, be claimed by a refugee whom there are reasonable grounds for regarding as a danger to the security of the country in which he is, or who, having been convicted by a final judgement of a particularly serious crime, constitutes a danger to the community of that country.
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 28 July 1951, 189 U.N.T.S. 150, Art. 33.
The term used in a sentence:
“Asylum is governed by a strong normative and legal framework, underpinned by the principle of non-refoulement, whereby states must refrain from sending a refugee back to a state in which he or she faces a well-founded fear of persecution.”
Betts, Alexander and Gil Loescher, Refugees in International Relations, Oxford University Press, 2011
“The unknown numbers of Ethiopian asylum seekers who are captured by the security forces face refoulement alongside other Ethiopians scheduled for deportation.”
Human Rights Watch, Hostile Shores. Abuse and Refoulement of Asylum Seekers and Refugees in Yemen, 20 December 2009, 1-56432-581-4, 3.
Amnesty International Canada, Refugees in Canada, http://www.amnesty.ca/Refugee/who.php (accessed 2 May, 2012).
Europa.eu, Common standards and procedures for returning illegal immigrants,
http://europa.eu/legislation_summaries/justice_freedom_security/free_movement_of_persons_asylum_immigration/jl0014_en.htm (accessed on 5 May, 2012).
Human Rights Watch, Torture and Non-Refoulement, http://www.hrw.org/news/2004/01/28/torture-and-non-refoulement (accessed on 2 May, 2012).
The Refugee Law Reader, Non-Refoulement, http://en.refugeelawreader.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=129&Itemid=100&lang=en (accessed on 2 May, 2012).
Rodger, Jessica, Defining the Parameters of the Non-Refoulement Principle, LLM Research Paper in International Law (LAWS 509), Faculty of Law Victoria University of Wellington, 2001, available at: http://www.refugee.org.nz/JessicaR.htm (accessed 2 May, 2012).
Lauterpacht, Elihu and Daniel Bethlehem, “The Scope and Content of the Principle of Non-Refoulement: Opinion”, in Refugee Protection in International Law: UNHCR’s Global Consultations on International Protection (edited by Erika Feller, Volker Türk and Frances Nicholson, Cambridge University Press, 2003).
Chan, P.C.W., “The Protection of Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons: Non-refoulement under Customary International Law?”, The International Journal of Human Rights, vol. 10, no. 3 (2006), pp. 231–239.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees, UNHCR Note on the Principle of Non-Refoulement, November 1997, available at: http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/438c6d972.html (accessed 3 May 2012)
Bruin, Rene and Kees Wouters, “Terrorism and the Non-derogability of Non-refoulement”, (2003) International Journal of Refugee Law, Vol 15, no 1.
Directive 2008/115/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on common standards and procedures in Member States for returning illegally staying third-country nationals, available at: http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:348:0098:0107:EN:PDF (accessed on 5 May, 2012).
Padmanabhan, Vijay M., “To Transfer or Not to Transfer: Identifying and Protecting Human Rights Interests in Non- Refoulement”, (2011) Fordham Law Review, Vol. 80, Issue 1, Article 3.
Aoife Duffy, Expulsion to Face Torture? Non-refoulement in International Law Int J Refugee Law (2008) 20(3): 373-390
CANADA
- Németh v. Canada (Justice), 2010 SCC 56, [2010] 3 S.C.R. 281
EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
- Al Husin v. Bosnia and Herzegovina, Application no. 3727/08, Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 7 February 2012
- Hirsi Jamaa and Others v. Italy , Application no. 27765/09, Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 23 February 2012
M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece, Application no 30696/09, Council of Europe: European Court of Human Rights, 21 January 2011.