The Analysis On The Principle Of Non-refoulement Under The Mass Influx Of Refugees

Refugee,as a group under internationally protection,has a special legal status under international law.The protection of refugee not only indicates the concern of human rights protection from the international society,but also lays the foundation of the development of international refugee law.The problem of refugee is pushed to the cusp of public opinion and catches the focus of international society because of the European refugees these years,the refugee and other persons seeking asylum under mass influx should also be protected.Thus,the principle of non-refoulement,as the fundamental principle of international refugee law shall be obeyed and applied strictly.Chapter 1 mainly explores the definition of refugee and its corresponding development.The definition of refugee has experienced three stages,first of all,the definition before the 1951 Convention relating to the International Status of Refugees(“1951 Convention”),the discussion of refugee was brought out as an international issue in the 20 th century.The 1933 Convention relating to the International Status of Refugees was concluded to officially protect the refugees.Secondly,the confirmation of the definition of refugee under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees(“1967 Protocol”),these conventions combines the subjective fear with objective factors to conclude the definition of refugee.The third stage is the development after the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol.The regional international law expand the meaning of refugee and include the displaced person under the situation of internal arm conflicts,mass violation of human rights or the danger to the public order,such as the 1984 Cartagena Declaration.The Mass influx of refugees and the principle of non-refoulement are explored under Chapter 2.As the basic and fundamental principle of international refugee law,the principle of non-refoulement will be discussed emphatically.Mass influx with the following characters shall be discussed in the first place,the huge number of people,the speed of move and the disparity between the response measures taken by the countries and the number of mass influx,which has been pointed out by the Executive Committee on Refugees.The principle of non-refoulement has been confirmed and reaffirmed in the international conventions and the resolution of general assembly of the United Nations,therefore become the rule of customary international law.The basic meaning of the principle of non-refoulement is that no Contracting State shall expel or return(“refouler”)a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontier or 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 under Article 33(1)of the 1951 Convention.Three aspects is included in this meaning,namely non rejection in the frontier,no extradition and no expel or return.The exceptions of principle of non-refoulement should also be considered here,the exception of national security and the exception of serious danger to the community.However,with the development of international human rights law and international refugee law,the exceptions tend to be strictly applied and there exists a trend against exceptions to the prohibition of refoulement.Based on the previous discussion,Chapter 3 explores the application and enforcement of principle of non-refoulement under the situation of mass influx,which further analyse the term of temporary refuge.The European refugee will be taken as an example to analyse the practice of the principle of non-refoulement and temporary refuge.The Temporary Protection Directive is concluded with the European Union to protect refugees and other displaced persons who seek asylum under the situation of mass influx.However,the Directive has not been enforced actively under the situation of European refugees.The difficulty of transferring the Directive into domestic law is one of the reasons,and the initiative mechanism is also not active under the Temporary Protection Directive.In conclusion,to solve the problem of refugees,the international cooperation and burden sharing shall be held in esteem in the protection of refugee.Sovereign states shall work together and cooperate with each other to better protect the refugee and other displaced persons who are seeking asylum.