Terms and Concepts in Migration

Posted in Immigration

Evidencing

Physical evidence that a visa has been granted. This can take the form of a simple stamp or notation in the passport or other travel document. Preferably it will incorporate a unique identifier, linked with visa decision documentation and systems and be protected against fraud or alteration by security features and by the method of affixing physical evidence to the passport or travel document.

Refoulement

The principle of “refoulement” was officially enshrined in Article 33 of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and is also contained in the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees and Article 3 of the 1984 Convention Against Torture. Article 33 of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees contains the following two paragraphs that define the prohibition of the expulsion or return of a refugee:

1. No Contracting State shall expel or return (“refouler”) a refugee in any manner whatsoever to the frontiers of territories where his life or freedom would be threatened on account of his race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion.
2. The benefit of the present provision may not, however, be claimed by a refugee whom there are reasonable grounds for regarding as a danger to the security of the country in which he is, or who, having been convicted by a final judgment of a particularly serious crime, constitutes a danger to the community of that country.

Validation

The process of checking for a match between the identity of the traveler in front of the officer at the point of embarkation or at the border, the information recorded in the traveler’s travel documents and any visas or permissions, and the information regarding that traveler’s identity and status.