Vietnam: Information on whether the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has a position on those refugee claimants who have been involved in or convicted of drug-trafficking
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 February 1992 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | VNM10153 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Vietnam: Information on whether the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has a position on those refugee claimants who have been involved in or convicted of drug-trafficking, 1 February 1992, VNM10153, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ad7760.html [accessed 19 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Attached please find a copy of Chapter IV (Exclusion Clauses)" of the Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status published by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugee (UNHCR) (1988, 33-38). Section 3b of this chapter deals with those refugee claimants who have committed "serious non-political crime[s] outside the country of refuge prior to [their] admission to that country as .. refugee[s]" (1979, 36-38).
A representative of the UNHCR in Ottawa states that the above-mentioned source is used as a guide for refugee determination by the UNHCR (7 Feb. 1992). Generally speaking, a refugee claimant who has committed a serious non-political crime in a country other than his/her would-be country of refuge would not be considered a refugee according to the above source. However, the determination of who is excluded from the UNHCR definition of refugee, because of his/her non-political crime(s), demands a careful study of the nature and seriousness of a crime committed by a refugee claimant and the circumstances under which the crime was committed (Ibid.). As a result, the UNHCR cannot accept or reject a refugee claimant who has been convicted of or involved in drug-trafficking, for instance, without a careful study of the exact nature of that specific case (Ibid.).
Additional information on the subject is currently unavailable to the IRBDC.
Bibliography
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Ottawa. 7 February 1992. Telephone Interview with Representative.
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 1988. Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status. Geneva: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Attachments
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. 1979. Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status, Geneva: United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Pp. 33-38.
