In the light of new information emerging over the last week on the
extent of the Israeli government’s deportation of asylum-seekers, in
violation of international law, Amnesty International urges the Israeli
government to end all removals of asylum-seekers to their home or third
countries.
The new information, which was revealed by the State Prosecutor’s
Office, shed light on the numbers of Eritrean and Sudanese
asylum-seekers deported in violation of the international law principle
of non-refoulement, as well as new plans to deport Eritrean
asylum-seekers to an unspecified third country.
International law, including the 1951 Convention relating to the
Status of Refugees, which Israel has ratified, prohibits states from
returning anyone to a country where they would be at real risk of
persecution or other serious human rights violations or abuses, or to a
country where they would not be protected against such return (the
principle of non-refoulement). The prohibition on refoulement covers all
forms of forced return, including legal or other measures such as
extradition, deportation, returns at the border and collective
expulsion.
