This book offers a comprehensive analysis and comparison of the practice and case law of the European Court of Human Rights and the UN Committee against Torture in the assessment of individual complaints concerning the principle of non-refoulement.

This book examines the protection against refoulement under the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Convention against Torture. It provides a comprehensive and comparative analysis of the non-refoulement case-law of both the European Court of Human Rights and the UN Committee against Torture.

Every year, millions of people are seeking protection in countries other than their own for fear of being tortured, persecuted, or killed. Finding protection is not easy. States are closely guarding their borders, making it difficult for aliens to seek protection from serious harm. No matter where they are or why they flee, people seeking international protection are vulnerable and insecure - in dire need of knowing, understanding, and receiving their rights. This book explores the basic right of every forcibly-displaced person to be protected from refoulement (forced return). The prohibition of refoulement is the cornerstone of international refugee and asylum law and aims to provide protection to people at risk of persecution, torture, inhuman treatment, or other human rights violations upon return to their own country. This book provides a comprehensive legal analysis of prohibitions of refoulement contained in four human rights treaties - the Refugee Convention, the European Convention on Human Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the Convention against Torture. The emphasis of the analysis is on the international meaning of the prohibitions of refoulement and on the responsibilities of States deriving from these prohibitions. The four treaties are analyzed in separate chapters. The final chapter compares the prohibitions of refoulement contained in the four investigated treaties. This book will be an important resource for legal scholars, students, and practitioners working with asylum seekers and refugees throughout the world. It is also a reminder for States which have obliged themselves to protect people from becoming victims of unspeakable atrocities.

Since the Frontex Border Agency's establishment in 2004, its activities have foregrounded the complexity and difficulty of protecting the human rights of those seeking access to the European Union. In this connection, protection from refoulement should be paramount in the Agency's work. By navigating through the intricacies of Frontex's structure and working methods, this book answers abiding questions: which circumstances would trigger European Union responsibility if violations were to occur in Frontex's joint operations? What is the legal standing of the principle of non-refoulement in relation to Frontex's activities? Can Frontex be entrusted with an exclusive search and rescue mandate? This book offers a theoretical and practical insight into the legislative intricacies of Frontex's work, examining the responsibility of the EU, and scrutinising the interaction of international law and EU law with a focus on the principle of non-refoulement.

"Published with the support of Austrian Science Fund (FWF): PUB 644-G."

The book undertakes a thorough human rights assessment of the EU Returns Directive. The overarching human rights framework, which circumscribes states prerogatives in the context of expulsion, builds upon obligations derived from the principle of non-refoulement; the right to life, respect for family and private life, effective remedy, basic social rights; the prohibition of torture and ill-treatment; and protection against arbitrary detention and collective expulsion. Based on this assessment, Majcher explores several protection gaps in the EU return policy which may result in violations of migrants’ rights and highlights how the provisions of the Directive should be implemented in line with member states’ human rights obligations. Informed by this assessment, the book discusses amendments to the Directive, proposed by the European Commission in September 2018. “By examining the European Union (EU) Returns Directive in the light of international and European human rights law, Izabella Majcher thoroughly explores and analyses the requirements the EU member states’ authorities must guarantee migrants in an irregular situation when they adopt and implement return decisions, entry bans, pre-removal detention, and removal.” Marie-Laure Basilien-Gainche, Professor of public international law, University Jean Moulin Lyon 3, Honorary member of the Institut universitaire de France