JOHANNESBURG, 13 March 2013 (IRIN) - The principle of non-refoulement, which prohibits the return of asylum seekers and refugees to a country where their lives or freedom would be threatened, is often referred to as the cornerstone of the 1951 Refugee Convention.
Even individuals whose bids for asylum have been rejected are protected by the Convention Against Torture and the European Convention of Human Rights, which forbid the extradition of people to areas where their freedom or safety are at risk.
In reality, however, states that are party to these conventions frequently return unsuccessful asylum seekers to countries where they are likely to experience detention, persecution and even torture at the hands of authoritarian regimes.
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“To deport people is one way of showing that an immigration system has teeth,” said Friederike Vetter of the Fahamu Refugee Programme, which links refugee-assisting organizations all over the world through online forums and resources.
Fahamu is in the process of setting up the Post-Deportation Monitoring Network. “Governments aren’t monitoring [post-deportation] simply because they don’t have to,” she said.
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