Non-refoulement

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Non-refoulement (/rəˈfuːlmɒ̃/) is a fundamental principle of international law anchored in the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees that forbids a country from deporting ("refoulement") any person to any country in which their "life or freedom would be threatened" on account of "race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion".[1][2] The only exception to non-refoulement according to Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees are "reasonable grounds" of "danger to the security of the country" or "danger to the community of that country".[1] Unlike political asylum, which applies only to those who can prove a well-grounded fear of political persecution,[3] non-refoulement refers to the generic deportation of people, including refugees into war zones and other disaster locales.[2]

Non-refoulement is generally seen as customary international law,[4] where it applies even to states that are not parties to the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or its 1967 Protocol.[5] It is debatable whether non-refoulement is a Peremptory norm (jus cogens) of international law, where non-refoulement must always be applied without any adjustment for any purpose or under any circumstances (derogation).[6][7] The debate over jus cogens nature of non-refoulement was rekindled following the September 11, 2001 terror attacks in the United States as well as other terrorist attacks in Europe.[8]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference convention was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b Trevisanut, Dr. Seline (September 1, 2014). "International Law and Practice: The Principle of Non-Refoulement And the De-Territorialization of Border Control at Sea". Leiden Journal of International Law. 27 (3): 661. doi:10.1017/S0922156514000259. S2CID 145445428.
  3. ^ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 14
  4. ^ Coleman, Nils. "Non-Refoulement Revised-Renewed Review of the Status of the Principle of Non-Refoulement as Customary International Law." Eur. J. Migration & L. 5 (2003): 23.
  5. ^ Vang, Jerry (Summer 2014). "Limitations of the Customary International Principle of Non-refoulement on Non-party States: Thailand Repatriates the Remaining Hmong-Lao Regardless of International Norms". Wisconsin International Law Journal. 32 (2): 355–383.
  6. ^ Jean Allain, 2001, "The jus cogens Nature of non‐refoulement", International Journal of Refugee Law, Vol. 13, Issue 4, pp. 533-558.
  7. ^ [Costello, Cathryn, and Michelle Foster. "Non-refoulement as custom and jus cogens? Putting the prohibition to the test." Netherlands Yearbook of International Law 2015: Jus Cogens: Quo Vadis? (2016): 273-327.]
  8. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).