This document discusses the intersection of asylum law and disability rights. It examines how critical disability theory and the social model of disability, as adopted in the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, relate to the principle of non-refoulement. The document analyzes a case, S.H.H. v UK, where the return of a physically disabled asylum applicant to Afghanistan would violate their rights due to a lack of social support. It argues that returning asylum seekers with disabilities to places without adequate support perpetuates social oppression and exclusion, violating the CRPD and potentially constituting inhuman treatment under the ECHR.

1. Non-Refoulement
and
Critical Disability Theory
Dr. Andreas Dimopoulos, Brunel University

2. Introduction
 Intersection of asylum and disability
 Disability as a human rights issue
 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)
 Social model of disability

3. Critical Disability Theory
 Social model of disability
 Marxist beginnings
 Non-radical version adopted by the CRPD
 Social barriers that render persons with impairments disabled
 Provision of support as an issue of equality

4. Non-refoulement: S.H.H. v UK
 S.H.H. v UK
 Physically disabled applicant
 Return to Afghanistan would amount to violation of Art. 3
 Limited provision of social support
 Minority opinion: disability-sensitive approach required

5. Rethinking non-refoulement
 For persons with disabilities, inadequate provision of support
perpetuates social oppression and social exclusion, which can
trigger the violation of Art. 3 ECHR
 States that expel asylum seekers with disabilities to countries where
the provision of support is inadequate:
 Contribute to social oppression for persons with disabilities
 Violate the spirit and letter of the CRPD (Art. 11)
 Violate Art. 3 of the ECHR and the obligation of non-refoulement