Date of publication:
01/07/2026
Somalia
Do domestic laws and policies provide for protection from refoulement?
Assessment by population
Analysis
The principle of non-refoulement, a cornerstone of international refugee protection, is explicitly upheld in the domestic laws and policies of the Federal Government of Somalia and Somaliland. These frameworks align with international and regional obligations, including the 1951 Refugee Convention, its 1967 Protocol, and the OAU 1969 Refugee Convention, which prohibit the return of asylum-seekers and refugees to territories where they would face persecution, serious harm, or threats to their life, freedom, or physical integrity. In Somalia, The Somalia Refugees and Asylum Seekers Law and the Puntland Refugee Protection Law explicitly states that no person shall be refused entry, expelled, or returned to a country where they may be at risk of persecution, torture, or serious harm. Similarly, Somaliland’s Refugees and Asylum Seekers Law reinforces this protection by prohibiting the forced return of asylum-seekers and refugees, ensuring that individuals seeking international protection are not sent back to places where their rights would be at risk. These legal frameworks, grounded in humanitarian principles, establish a strong commitment to safeguarding asylum-seekers and refugees from refoulement, reflecting Somalia and Somaliland’s adherence to international protection norms.
Related provisions of domestic law or policy
Puntland Refugee Protection Law
- Year: 2016
- Type: Domestic law
- Rights Category: Asylum, Education, Freedom of movement, Health, Housing, land & property, Liberty & security of person, Nationality & facilitated naturalization, Social protection, Work & Workplace rights, Family life, Documentation
Legal provision
Article 7 - Prohibition of expulsion, “non-refoulement”
No person shall be refused entry into Puntland or extradited from Puntland or returned to any other country or subjected to any similar measure if as a result of such refusal, expulsion or turn or any other measure, such person is compelled to return in a country where: (a) he may be subject to persecution or torture on account of his race, tribe, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion or (b) his life, physical integrity or liberty would be threatened on account of external aggression, occupation, foreign domination or events seriously disturbing public order in part or the whole of that country.
Somaliland Refugee Protection Law
- Year: 2023
- Type: Domestic law
- Rights Category: Asylum, Education, Freedom of movement, Health, Housing, land & property, Liberty & security of person, Nationality & facilitated naturalization, Social protection, Work & Workplace rights, Family life, Documentation
Legal provision
Article 5 - Principles and Basis of the Act
Properly dealing with them, and not repatriating them forcibly.
Somalia Refugees and Asylum Seekers Law
- Year: 2023
- Type: Domestic law
- Rights Category: Asylum, Education, Freedom of movement, Health, Housing, land & property, Liberty & security of person, Social protection, Work & Workplace rights, Family life, Documentation
Legal provision
Article 5 - Somalia Refugee Law
Non-refoulement (prohibition of forced return
Article 19.1 - Rights of Asylum Seekers
An asylum seeker who has applied for refugee status under Article 8 has the right to remain in the Federal Republic of Somalia: - Until the Committee makes a decision on their application. - If their application is denied, until they have exhausted all administrative and legal remedies
Protection and Assistance to Internally Displaced Persons Bill
- Year: 2021
- Type: Domestic law
- Rights Category: Education, Freedom of movement, Health, Housing, land & property, Social protection, Work & Workplace rights, Family life, Documentation
Legal provision
Article 12 - Protective Measures
To not be forcibly returned or resettled to a place where their safety, liberty, or health may be at risk, in accordance with Principle 15(a)(d) of the Guiding Principles and Article 9(2)(e) of the Kampala Convention.