A guide to international refugee protection and building state asylum systems Handbook for Parliamentarians N° 27, 2017 Acknowledgements This publication is jointly published by the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Authors: Frances Nicholson and Judith Kumin. Joint inter-agency editorial committee: Cornelis Wouters, Ariel Riva, Alice Edwards, Madeline Garlick (UNHCR Division of International Protection); members of the IPU Committee to Promote Respect for International Humanitarian Law, in particular Senator Gabriela Cuevas Barron (Mexico), Senator Philippe Mahoux (Belgium) and Kareen Jabre, Secretary of the Committee. Other commentators and contributors: Sanne Andersen, Caroline Dulin Brass, Subin Cho, Carole Simone Dahan, Alice Farmer, Sibylle Kapferer, Jackie Keegan, Nese Kilincoglu, Alexandra Pamela McDowall, Michele Simone, Peter Swiniarski, Beatrice Ureche, numerous other staff in UNHCR headquarters in Geneva and national offices around the world. The IPU expresses its gratitude to the Federated States of Micronesia for its financial contribution towards the production of this Handbook. All parts of this publication may be reproduced for personal and non-commercial use on condition that copyright and source indications are also copied and no modifications are made. Please inform the Inter-Parliamentary Union on the usage of the publication content. © Inter-Parliamentary Union and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2017 Cover photo: © UNHCR/Benjamin Loyseau Design and layout: BakOS DESIGN ISBN 978-92-9142-707-9 Refugee Handbook (GB) Contents Foreword ................................................................................................................................................6 Abbreviations .........................................................................................................................................8 Introduction .........................................................................................................................................10 Using this Handbook ......................................................................................................................12 Chapter 1: The international legal framework protecting refugees .................................................15 1.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................15 1.2 International refugee law and standards ..................................................................................16 1.3 Regional refugee laws and standards.......................................................................................19 1.4 Other international legal standards that protect asylum-seekers and refugees .......................23 1.5 Other sources of law and guidance ..........................................................................................32 Chapter 2 : Roles and responsibilities for protecting refugees ........................................................33 2.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................33 2.2 The roles and responsibilities of States ....................................................................................34 2.3 Responsibilities towards particular categories of refugees ......................................................37 2.4 The role of UNHCR ...................................................................................................................41 2.5 UNHCR’s partnerships .............................................................................................................45 2.6 Supporting and funding refugee protection and UNHCR’s work .............................................49 Chapter 3: Acceding to international instruments protecting refugees and building State asylum systems...................................................................................................52 3.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................52 3.2 Acceding to the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol ..........................................................53 3.3 Developing State asylum systems ...........................................................................................55 3.4 National laws and policies: The core of State asylum systems ................................................59 Chapter 4: Managing the border and regulating the entry of refugees..........................................64 4.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................64 4.2 Admission to territory and the scope of the non‑refoulement obligation ................................66 4.3 Ensuring security and protecting refugees ..............................................................................73 4.4 Challenges of mixed population movements ...........................................................................75 3 4.5 Smuggling, trafficking and refugee protection .........................................................................82 4.6 Protection-sensitive entry systems in mixed migration contexts ............................................87 4.7 Non-penalization for irregular entry ..........................................................................................94 Chapter 5: Receiving asylum-seekers and refugees .........................................................................96 5.1 Introduction ..............................................................................................................................96 5.2 Reception and treatment of asylum-seekers in the context of individual asylum systems .....97 5.3 Freedom of movement, detention and alternatives to detention ...........................................104 5.4 Responding to a mass influx .................................................................................................. 115 5.5 Responding in emergencies .................................................................................................. 118 Chapter 6: Determining who needs international protection ........................................................125 6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................125 6.2 State responsibility for refugee status determination ............................................................126 6.3 Determining refugee status ...................................................................................................128 6.4 The refugee definition: Who is included? ...............................................................................132 6.5 What about the situation of Palestinian refugees? .................................................................144 6.6 Who should be excluded from refugee status? .....................................................................144 6.7 Complementary and temporary forms of international protection ........................................146 Chapter 7: Making asylum procedures fair and efficient ...............................................................152 7.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................152 7.2 Fair and efficient asylum procedures ......................................................................................154 7.3 Minimum procedural guarantees ............................................................................................156 7.4 Ensuring confidentiality in line with relevant data protection principles and standards ..........159 7.5 Registering and adjudicating claims ........................................................................................161 7.6 Admissibility procedures .........................................................................................................163 7.7 The interview and decision-making process at first instance .................................................171 7.8 Accelerated procedures ..........................................................................................................175 7.9 Subsequent application and abandonment or withdrawal of applications ..............................177 7.10 Appeals and effective remedy ...............................................................................................179 7.11 Asylum-seekers with specific needs in the asylum procedure .............................................180 7.12 Recognition of refugee status ...............................................................................................188 7.13 Cancellation, revocation and cessation of refugee status .....................................................191 7.14 Persons found not to be in need of international protection .................................................195 4 Chapter 8: Respecting the rights and dignity of refugees .............................................................200 8.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................200 8.2 The principle of non-discrimination .........................................................................................201