THE CONCEPT OF ASYLUM AND THE OBLIGATIONS OF THE HONG KONG AUTHORITIES
1.
There is no agreed definition of asylum in general international law,
nor great uniformity as to its content in practice. It is generally equated with the sum total of protection which should be provided by a
State to refugees on its territory in the exercise of its sovereignty.
This may involve continous protection in conditions which will afford the
refugee the oportunity to become part of a new community.
In this sense,
asylum may be equated to a durable solution but there is no firmly
established obligation on States under international law to grant such
asylum to refugees.
2.
Asylum, however, also involves providing basic protection to
refugees. In this sense, asylum is often equated to temporary refuge
which means providing continous protection against return to frontiers or
territories where the life or freedom of the person(s) concerned may be
endangered and includes the possibility of remaining on the territority of
the State concerned until a durable solution can be identified. There is
an obligation increasingly recognized by the international community to
provide such limited asylum to those in need of it. This obligation is
based on basis considerations of humanity as expressed, for example, in
the non-refoulement principle.
3. Basis considerations of humanity also enjoin all States to take into
account in their actions the right to life, liberty and security of the
person, and to freedom from torture, cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment. This principle has been confirmed by the International Court
of Justice and proclaimed and reaffirmed in the Universal Declaration of
Human Rights as well as in the 1966 Covenant on Civil and Political
Rights. As this latter instrument notes in its article 4(2), no derogration from the provisions protecting these interests is permitted even in time of public emergency which threatens the life of the nation. This instrument has been ratified by the Government of the United Kingdom
and is applicable in Hong Kong as well.
4.
In accordance with the above principles, which are equally applicable in Hong Kong, persons arriving in boats from the Socialist Republic of
الله
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