Resolution No. 9 — GA-2017-86-RES-09
Subject: INTERPOL policy on refugees

The ICPO-INTERPOL General Assembly, meeting in Beijing, China, from 26 to 29 September 2017 at its 86th session:

BEARING IN MIND the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol, which set the international legal framework for the protection of refugees;

CONSIDERING the mounting concerns that dangerous criminals and terrorists might try to abuse the refugee protection regime;

RECALLING the Resolutions of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), in particular Resolutions 1373 (2001), 1624 (2005), 2178 (2014), and 2322 (2016), by which the UNSC called upon all States to take appropriate measures to ensure that refugee status is not abused by the perpetrators, organizers or facilitators of terrorist acts;

ALSO RECALLING that Resolution 2178 (2014) encouraged INTERPOL to intensify efforts with respect to the foreign terrorist fighter threat, and that Resolution 2322 (2016) recognized the proven effectiveness of INTERPOL's secure global communication system, databases and tools, and encouraged States to consider extending access to, and where appropriate, integrate into their national systems, the INTERPOL I-24/7 network beyond the National Central Bureaus to other national law enforcement entities at strategic locations such as remote border crossings, airports, customs and immigration posts or police stations;

NOTING Report GA-2017-86-REP-10 submitted by the General Secretariat and its proposal to develop a three-pronged approach in relation to the cases of refugees and asylum seekers;

CALLS UPON member countries to do their utmost to ensure that refugee status is not abused by terrorists and other criminals;

TO THAT END, URGES member countries to enhance the exchange of information and, in particular, in the process of examining asylum applications, to:

1. Systematically check INTERPOL's databases;
   2. Use INTERPOL's Information System to exchange information;
   3. Establish at the national level the relevant protocols to enable regular communication between the national authorities in charge of reviewing asylum applications and the NCB in the country;
   4. Expand to all relevant authorities, including border control and authorities in charge of reviewing asylum applications, access to INTERPOL Information System, in particular its databases and its communications infrastructure;
   5. Sensitize judicial and immigration authorities of available INTERPOL policing capabilities to use in relation to asylum applications;
   6. Systematically inform other countries and the General Secretariat of a decision to deny an asylum application notably in light of an individual's criminal background;

CALLS UPON member countries to systematically upload to the Stolen and Lost Travel Documents Database stolen, lost or revoked refugee travel documents,

ENDORSES the guidelines contained in Report GA-2017-86-REP-10 with regard to the processing of data related to refugees and asylum seekers, and ENCOURAGES member countries, for the purpose of facilitating the implementation of the refugee guidelines, to provide to the General Secretariat or, as applicable, the Commission for the Control of INTERPOL's Files, in accordance with their national laws and with due observance of confidentiality requirements:

1. Confirmation of the granting of refugee status
   2. Information of the outcome of the review of an asylum application,

REQUESTS the General Secretariat to continue to engage with relevant international and regional organizations and report to the General Assembly, as appropriate, on ways to enhance collaboration and exchange of information with such organizations;

REQUESTS the General Secretariat to study and take proper measures, and put in place procedures relating to data processing to prevent dangerous criminals and terrorists from abusing the refugee protection regime and report to the Executive Committee for further discussion and approval.

Adopted