State Sovereignty - Refugees

624 Words3 Pages
State Sovereignty is when a state/country has the authority to govern itself and make its own legal decisions. It also legally prevents other states from interfering with the decisions made, even if those decisions violate international law. Evidently, this has caused many debates among members of our society, arguing for and against state sovereignty. A refugee is an individual that has fled their country in fear for their life. The main causes of this fear include civil war or anarchy in their previous country and discrimination due to the individual’s race, religion or nationality. Over the years, Australia has had thousands of refugees seeking asylum in Australia, leaving the country with mixed opinions. This essay will discuss the positives and negative effects that State Sovereignty and International Law have on the rights of the refugee/asylum seeker. On one hand, there is the argument that the International Law Community does care about and positively influence the rights of the individual. In an effort to preserve the human rights of refugees, there are international treaties saying that the Australian Government, and the rest of the world, has a responsibility to protect refugees and asylum seekers, no matter how they came to Australia. The treaties also state that refugees are not to be sent back to their original country if it would endanger the life of the refugee (The Principle of Non-Refoulement). This also prevents the country from sending a refugee to a third country where they may also be harmed or endangered. Some of these treaties include: - The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR - The International covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights(ICESCR) - The Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) - The Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) It can be
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