Definition of refoulement
: the act of forcing a refugee or asylum seeker to return to a country or territory where he or she is likely to face persecution
- Since 1980, United States law has defined refugees as people with a "well-founded fear of persecutions" in their home country and thus entitled to sanctuary or political asylum. To send them home would risk committing the diplomatic sin of refoulement—forcibly subjecting them to peril.
- —The New York Times
