Cochtel said the agency had "some concerns about the return of Afghans to Turkey" because they faced the risk of refoulement, being returned to a warzone.
Removing a person to a safe third country will not engage the removing state's obligations under the convention unless doing so exposes the person to a real risk of refoulement.
In light of the safeguards contained in the Swedish extradition and [European arrest warrant] procedures against any potential extradition in violation of international human rights agreements, the government reiterates its position that Mr Assange does not face a risk of refoulement [removal] contrary to international human rights obligations to the United States from Sweden.
Secondly, respondents emphasized that the Moroccan government should consider granting documents to more migrants in order to stabilize their status within the country and to avoid situations of refoulement.
Den Heijer (2013) has noted that the High Court of Australia 'employed fairly similar considerations' to those used in the Hirsi case in highlighting that the Malaysia 'refugee swap' was contravening international rules on non-refoulement (p. 280).
Turkey will send returned migrants back to their origin countries, which NGOs have warned means in many cases breaching international law on non-refoulement — the principle that people must not be sent back to a home country where they face persecution.
Nevertheless, the principles of temporary protection are such that Turkey will maintain an open border policy' for all Syrians, and it will respect their non-refoulement on condition that they register with the Turkish authorities.
Institutionally, this position supports what the Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees (United Nations 1951) calls the principle of "non refoulement": signatory states are not to deport refugees and asylum seekers to their countries of origin if this threatens their lives and freedom.
Article 33 of the convention prohibits "refoulement" of refugees – ie removal to places or countries where their lives or freedom would be at risk on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
HRW states: "Refoulement occurs not only when a refugee is directly rejected or expelled, but also where indirect pressure on individuals is so intense that it leads them to believe that they have no practical option but to return to a country where they face serious risk of persecution or threats to their lives and safety".
