Brief of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the case INNOVATION LAW LAB, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, v. KEVIN M. MCALEENAN, Secretary of Homeland Security, et al. Defendant-Appellant.

Brief of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees before the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in the case INNOVATION LAW LAB, et al.,
Plaintiffs-Appellees,
v.
KEVIN M. MCALEENAN,
Secretary of Homeland Security, et al.
Defendant-Appellant.

Comments:
In addition to protecting individuals from being sent to a State where they would face persecution, the principle of non-refoulement protects refugees from being transferred to a State in which they might not face persecution, but from where that State would send the individual on to persecution in a third country, referred to here as “chain refoulement.” Case: 19-15716, 06/26/2019, ID: 11346192, DktEntry: 48, Page 11 of 31 5 The obligation to safeguard against refoulement of any kind applies to refugees and asylum-seekers alike, regardless of whether the individual has formally been recognized as a refugee. Ensuring adequate protections for asylum-seekers pending their applications and preventing their return to countries where they fear persecution are essential to upholding the central principle of non-refoulement.