Protecting asylum-seekers prior to determination of refugee status: reinterpreting the refugee convention and assessing contemporary state practice on non-refoulement

The present decade is confronted with unprecedented refugee crises, dwarfing all similar refugee crises ever witnessed by mankind before. The plight of asylum-seekers, particularly prior to the determination of their refugee status by the host country, is of great concern to the UNHCR and the intern...

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Main Authors:	Hamid, Abdul Ghafur@Khin Maung Sein, Phiri, Shaban Abdul Majeed
Format:	Article
Language:	English English
Published:	Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws (AIKOL), International Islamic University Malaysia 2017
Subjects:	K Law (General)
Online Access:	http://irep.iium.edu.my/57601/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/57601/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/57601/1/57601_Protecting%20Asylum-seekers.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/57601/7/57601_Protecting%20asylum-seekers_WOS.pdf

id	iium-57601
recordtype	eprints
spelling	iium-576012019-06-17T02:16:17Z http://irep.iium.edu.my/57601/ Protecting asylum-seekers prior to determination of refugee status: reinterpreting the refugee convention and assessing contemporary state practice on non-refoulement Hamid, Abdul Ghafur@Khin Maung Sein Phiri, Shaban Abdul Majeed K Law (General) The present decade is confronted with unprecedented refugee crises, dwarfing all similar refugee crises ever witnessed by mankind before. The plight of asylum-seekers, particularly prior to the determination of their refugee status by the host country, is of great concern to the UNHCR and the international community, as this is the time when they are most vulnerable. The sad situation of these asylum-seekers, their sufferings on small boats being packed like sardines on angry seas, and their pain in the hands of cruel human traffickers, beg the crucial question of whether they are protected in any way by international refugee law or left unprotected. With a view to answering this question, the present study applies the legal doctrinal method and attempts a holistic interpretation of articles 1A(2), 31(1) and 33 of the 1951 Refugee Convention. The study finds that the term ‘refugee’ in these articles is in effect referring to ‘asylum-seekers’ who fulfil the constituent elements of a refugee under the Convention and that these asylum-seekers cum refugees are protected by the Convention even before the regularisation of their refugee status. The key protection stems from the principle of non-refoulement. State practice nevertheless is not encouraging and potential States of refuge are very weak in honouring this principle, which is a corner stone of international refugee law. The study concludes with suggestions for resolving this core issue. Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws (AIKOL), International Islamic University Malaysia 2017 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/57601/1/57601_Protecting%20Asylum-seekers.pdf application/pdf en http://irep.iium.edu.my/57601/7/57601_Protecting%20asylum-seekers_WOS.pdf Hamid, Abdul Ghafur@Khin Maung Sein and Phiri, Shaban Abdul Majeed (2017) Protecting asylum-seekers prior to determination of refugee status: reinterpreting the refugee convention and assessing contemporary state practice on non-refoulement. IIUM Law Journal, 25 (1). pp. 29-61. ISSN 0128-2530 E-ISSN 2289-7852 http://journals.iium.edu.my/iiumlj/index.php/iiumlj/article/view/318/206
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	International Islamic University Malaysia
building	IIUM Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English English
topic	K Law (General)
spellingShingle	K Law (General) Hamid, Abdul Ghafur@Khin Maung Sein Phiri, Shaban Abdul Majeed Protecting asylum-seekers prior to determination of refugee status: reinterpreting the refugee convention and assessing contemporary state practice on non-refoulement
description	The present decade is confronted with unprecedented refugee crises, dwarfing all similar refugee crises ever witnessed by mankind before. The plight of asylum-seekers, particularly prior to the determination of their refugee status by the host country, is of great concern to the UNHCR and the international community, as this is the time when they are most vulnerable. The sad situation of these asylum-seekers, their sufferings on small boats being packed like sardines on angry seas, and their pain in the hands of cruel human traffickers, beg the crucial question of whether they are protected in any way by international refugee law or left unprotected. With a view to answering this question, the present study applies the legal doctrinal method and attempts a holistic interpretation of articles 1A(2), 31(1) and 33 of the 1951 Refugee Convention. The study finds that the term ‘refugee’ in these articles is in effect referring to ‘asylum-seekers’ who fulfil the constituent elements of a refugee under the Convention and that these asylum-seekers cum refugees are protected by the Convention even before the regularisation of their refugee status. The key protection stems from the principle of non-refoulement. State practice nevertheless is not encouraging and potential States of refuge are very weak in honouring this principle, which is a corner stone of international refugee law. The study concludes with suggestions for resolving this core issue.
format	Article
author	Hamid, Abdul Ghafur@Khin Maung Sein Phiri, Shaban Abdul Majeed
author_facet	Hamid, Abdul Ghafur@Khin Maung Sein Phiri, Shaban Abdul Majeed
author_sort	Hamid, Abdul Ghafur@Khin Maung Sein
title	Protecting asylum-seekers prior to determination of refugee status: reinterpreting the refugee convention and assessing contemporary state practice on non-refoulement
title_short	Protecting asylum-seekers prior to determination of refugee status: reinterpreting the refugee convention and assessing contemporary state practice on non-refoulement
title_full	Protecting asylum-seekers prior to determination of refugee status: reinterpreting the refugee convention and assessing contemporary state practice on non-refoulement
title_fullStr	Protecting asylum-seekers prior to determination of refugee status: reinterpreting the refugee convention and assessing contemporary state practice on non-refoulement
title_full_unstemmed	Protecting asylum-seekers prior to determination of refugee status: reinterpreting the refugee convention and assessing contemporary state practice on non-refoulement
title_sort	protecting asylum-seekers prior to determination of refugee status: reinterpreting the refugee convention and assessing contemporary state practice on non-refoulement
publisher	Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws (AIKOL), International Islamic University Malaysia
publishDate	2017
url	http://irep.iium.edu.my/57601/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/57601/ http://irep.iium.edu.my/57601/1/57601_Protecting%20Asylum-seekers.pdf http://irep.iium.edu.my/57601/7/57601_Protecting%20asylum-seekers_WOS.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T21:21:26Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T21:21:26Z
_version_	1777411908331110400

Protecting asylum-seekers prior to determination of refugee status: reinterpreting the refugee convention and assessing contemporary state practice on non-refoulement

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