Meanings
alternative nonrefoulement · alternative non-refoulment
- uncountableinternational lawThe principle that a person (particularly a refugee) should not be returned to an area (chiefly their country of origin) where they would face mistreatment.
1 more example
In international law, there is a principle that is of paramount importance—the principle of non-refoulement (prohibition to return). The principle is applicable to any refugee, asylum-seeker or an alien who needs some form of shelter from the state whose control he/she is under. The non-refoulement principle means that states cannot return aliens to territories where they might be subjected to torture, inhumane or degrading treatment, or where their lives and freedoms might be at risk.
2008, Vladislava Stoyanova, “The Principle of Non-refoulement and the Right of Asylum-seekers to Enter State Territory”, in Interdisciplinary Journal of Human Rights Law, volume 3, number 1, Bay Shore, N.Y.: Council for American Students in International Negotiations, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1Antonyms: refoulement
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe principle that a person (particularly a refugee) should not be returned to an area (chiefly their country of origin) where they would face mistreatment.
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*bʰleh₃-“to blow; to inflate, swell”
- Latinfullō“one who fulls cloth, fuller”
- Medieval Latinfullare“to make cloth denser and firmer by soaking, beating and pressing, to full”
- Frenchrefoulement“act of pushing something back (as gunpowder into a gun barrel, or water by a dam); act of water overflowing; forced relocation of a group of people; forced repatriation of asylum-seekers or refugees”
- Englishnon-refoulement
From non- (prefix meaning ‘not’) + refoulement. Refoulement is borrowed from French refoulement (“act of pushing something back (as gunpowder into a gun barrel, or water by a dam); act of water overflowing; forced relocation of a group of people; forced repatriation of asylum-seekers or refugees”), from refouler (“to cause to flow or turn back; to repress, suppress; to repulse; to trample on again”) (from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + fouler (“to impress, stamp; to trample, walk on; to mistreat, oppress”) (ultimately from Medieval Latin fullare (“to make cloth denser and firmer by soaking, beating and pressing, to full”), from Latin fullō (“one who fulls cloth, fuller”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *bʰleh₃- (“to blow; to inflate, swell”)) + -ment (suffix forming nouns from verbs, usually denoting resulting actions or states).
More words from French, Medieval Latin, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic عدم الإعادة القسرية
- عدم الإعادة القسريةprinciple that a person should not be returned to an area where they would face mistreatment
Dutch non-refoulement
- non-refoulementprinciple that a person should not be returned to an area where they would face mistreatment
Esperanto ne-transŝovado
- ne-transŝovadoprinciple that a person should not be returned to an area where they would face mistreatment
Finnish palautuskielto
- palautuskieltoprinciple that a person should not be returned to an area where they would face mistreatment
German Non-refoulement-Gebot, Grundsatz der Nichtzurückweisung
- Non-refoulement-Gebotprinciple that a person should not be returned to an area where they would face mistreatment
- Grundsatz der Nichtzurückweisungprinciple that a person should not be returned to an area where they would face mistreatment
- Nichtzurückweisungsprinzipprinciple that a person should not be returned to an area where they would face mistreatment
- Refoulement-Verbotprinciple that a person should not be returned to an area where they would face mistreatment
- Nicht-Zurückweisungprinciple that a person should not be returned to an area where they would face mistreatment
- Nicht-Abschiebungprinciple that a person should not be returned to an area where they would face mistreatment
Hebrew עקרון האי־החזרה
- עקרון האי־החזרהprinciple that a person should not be returned to an area where they would face mistreatment
Italian principio di non-respingimento
- principio di non-respingimentoprinciple that a person should not be returned to an area where they would face mistreatment
Japanese ノン・ルフールマン原則
- ノン・ルフールマン原則principle that a person should not be returned to an area where they would face mistreatment
Persian نان رفولمان
- نان رفولمانprinciple that a person should not be returned to an area where they would face mistreatment
Polish zasada non-refoulement
- zasada non-refoulementprinciple that a person should not be returned to an area where they would face mistreatment
Spanish principio de no devolución
- principio de no devoluciónprinciple that a person should not be returned to an area where they would face mistreatment
Swedish principen om non-refoulement
- principen om non-refoulementprinciple that a person should not be returned to an area where they would face mistreatment
Turkish geri gönderme yasağı
- geri gönderme yasağıprinciple that a person should not be returned to an area where they would face mistreatment
Vietnamese luật không gửi trả
- luật không gửi trảprinciple that a person should not be returned to an area where they would face mistreatment
Cite this entry
non-refoulement. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/non-refoulement
“non-refoulement.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/non-refoulement. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “non-refoulement,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/non-refoulement.
Source: non-refoulement on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.