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6 APLPJ 1 (2005)

handle is hein.journals/aplpj6 and id is 1 raw text is: THE PACIFIC SOLUTION OR A PACIFIC NIGHTMARE?:
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN BURDEN SHIFTING AND
RESPONSIBILITY SHARING
Dr. Savitri Taylor*
I.    INTRODUCTION
II.    THE PACIFIC SOLUTION
III.   OFFSHORE PROCESSING CENTERS AND STATE RESPONSIBILITY
IV.   PACIFIC NIGHTMARES
A.    Nauru
B.    Papua New Guinea
V.     INTERPRETING NIGHTMARES
VI.    SPREADING NIGHTMARES
VII. SHARING RESPONSIBILITY
VIII. CONCLUSION
I.    INTRODUCTION
The guarantee that persons unable to enjoy human rights in
their country of nationality, who seek asylum in other countries, will
not be returned to the country from which they fled is a significant
achievement of international efforts to validate the assertion that those
rights truly are the rights of man. There are currently 145 states,'
including Australia, that are parties to the 1951 Convention relating to
the Status of Refugees (Refugees Convention)2 and/or the 1967
Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees (Refugees Protocol).3 The
prohibition on refoulement is the key provision of the Refugees
Convention. Article 33(1) of the Refugees Convention provides that
no state party shall expel or return (refouler) a refugee in any manner
* Senior Lecturer, School of Law, La Trobe University, Victoria 3086,
Australia.
As of February 1, 2004.
2 July 28, 1951, 1954 Austl. T. S. No. 5 (entered into force for Australia
and generally on April 22, 1954).
3 January 31, 1967, 1973 Austl. T. S. No. 37 (entered into force generally
on October 4, 1967, and for Australia on December 13, 1973).