•
•
The third state takes account of any special vulnerabilities of the person
concerned and maintains the privacy interests of the person and their family;
If the person is recognized as a refugee, effective protection will remain
available until a durable solution can be found.250
If one of the above criteria is not fulfilled, the asylum seeker or refugee should be
considered as not enjoying effective protection in the country concerned and should
therefore not be returned. This applies, for example, to persons who are denied reentry to their country of former habitual residence.251
1.4. Detention
States' competence to detain non-nationals pending their removal from, or
pending decisions regarding their entry to state territory,252 is limited by the 1951
Refugee Convention (e.g., Articles 9 and 31(2)). More importantly, human rights
law prescribes additional limitations, including the prohibition against arbitrary
detention.253 Guy Goodwin-Gill and Jane McAdam describe these limitations as
follows:
The first line of protection thus requires that all detention must be in accordance
with and authorized by law; the second, that detention should be reviewed as
to its legality and necessity, according to the standard of what is reasonable
and necessary in a democratic society. Arbitrary embraces not only what is
illegal, but also what is unjust.254
Detention of asylum seekers should normally be avoided in view of the hardship
it involves.255 If detention is considered necessary, UNHCR’s Executive Committee
recommends the following standard:
If necessary, detention may be resorted to only on grounds prescribed by law
to verify identity; to determine the elements on which the claim to refugee
status or asylum is based; to deal with cases where refugees or asylum seekers
have destroyed their travel and/or identity documents or have used fraudulent
documents in order to mislead the authorities of the State in which they intend
to claim asylum; or to protect national security or public order.256
250
UNHCR, “Summary Conclusions on the Concept of ‘Effective Protection’ in the Context of Secondary
Movements of Refugees and Asylum-Seekers (Lisbon Expert Roundtable, 9-10 December 2002),”
February 2003, para. 15, http://www.refworld.org/docid/3fe9981e4.html.
251
Stateless Palestinians from the Gulf States are often denied re-entry to their country of former
habitual residence. See BADIL, Closing Protection Gaps: A Handbook on Protection of Palestinian
Refugees in States Signatories to the 1951 Refugee Convention, 18–19 and 27–28.
252
Goodwin-Gill and McAdam, The Refugee in International Law, 462–466.
253
See UN General Assembly, “Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Article 9; UN General Assembly,
“International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” Article 9.
254
Goodwin-Gill and McAdam, The Refugee in International Law, 463.
255
UNHCR, “Executive Committee Conclusion No. 44 (XXXVII) – Detention of Refugees and AsylumSeekers,” October 13, 1986, para. (b), http://www.unhcr.org/3ae68c43c0.html.
256
Ibid.
The 1951 Refugee Convention and Article 1D
49
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