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country or a territory where he or she may be subjected to persecution or
Any action, such as rejection at the frontier, danger to life or freedom.
which may have the same effect, is also considered to fall within the purview of the principle of non-refoulement.
The practice of granting first asylum has been closely linked to the
This practice, inter alia, influx of Indochinese refugees in South-East Asia.
7.
Even those
ensured respect for the fundamental principle of non-refoulement. States who were not in a position to provide durable asylum to persons claiming to be refugees generally accepted this concept and admitted such
Such admission is also persons pending a solution being found for them. necessary in order to determine the validity of claims by asylum-seekers to refugee status.
B.
In South-East Asia, however, there has been widespread agreement since 1975 that such persons should be considered as refugees deserving of international protection. They were thus prima facie entitled to protection against deterrent measures which might put them in a situation which threatened their life or security or in some instances, which might also be tantamount to refoulement. For UNHCR the preservation of first asylum remains fundamental to any viable and humanitarian solution of the refugee problem in
South-East Asia.
a) Attitude of the Governments on first asylum
The
9. Distinct attitudes could be attributed to each of the three groups of
For most countries, i.e. countries of origin, first asylum and resettlement. countries of first refuge in the region, the practice of first asylum, apart from its humanitarian content, has been intrinsically linked with resettlement. This has meant that a decline in the resettlement off-take could result in the weakening of the practice of first asylum. resettlement countries have viewed first asylum both as an indispensable humanitarian act as well as a prerequisite for the fulfillment of their resettlement undertakings. Certain variations in the attitude of these
For some, generous first asylum governments, however, need to be specified. policies are critical for the development of an approach to deal with the
Others, while supporting continuing flows of asylum-seekers in the region.
the practice of first asylum, place emphasis on the need to sever the
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