AGREEMENT
BETWEEN

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
AND
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF EL SALVADOR
FOR COOPERATION IN THE EXAMINATION OF PROTECTION CLAIMS

THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE
GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF EL SALVADOR (hereinafter referred to
individually as ?Party,? or collectively as ?the Parties?),

CONSIDERING that El Salvador is a party to the 1951 Convention relating to the
Status of Refugees, done at Geneva, July 28, 1951 (the ?1951 Convention?) and the
Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, done at New York, January 31, 1967 (the
?1967 Protocol?), and the United States is party to the 1967 Protocol, and reaf?rrning
the Parties? obligations to provide protection for eligible refugees who are physically
present in their respective territories in accordance with their respective obligations
under those instruments, subject to the Parties? respective reservations, understandings,
and declarations;

in particular the obligations of the Parties in honoring the
principle of non-refoulement as set forth in the 1951 Convention and the 1967
Protocol, as well as the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or
Degrading Treatment or Punishment, done at New York, December 10, 1984 (the
?Convention Against Torture?), subject to the Parties? respective reservations,
understandings, and declarations and reaf?rming their respective obligations to
promote and protect human rights and fundamental freedoms consistent with their
respective international obligations;

RECOGNIZING and respecting the obligations of each Party under its domestic laws,
policies, instructions, and agreements;

EMPHASIZING that the United States and El Salvador offer systems of refugee
protection that are consistent with their respective obligations under the 1951
Convention or the 1967 Protocol, and committed to the notion that cooperation and
burden-sharing with respect to re?igee status claimants can be enhanced;

DESIRING to uphold asylum or equivalent temporary protection as a critical
instrument of the international protection of refugees, while simultaneously desiring to
prevent fraud in the asylum process, which undermines its legitimate purpose, and
resolved to strengthen the integrity of that institution and the public support on which it
depends; and

AWARE that such sharing of responsibility must ensure in practice that persons in
need of international protection are identi?ed and that breaches of the ?indamental
principle of non-refoulement are avoided, and therefore determined to safeguard for
each refugee status claimant eligible to pursue a refugee status claim who comes within
their jurisdiction, access to a full and fair refugee status determination procedure;

AGREE as follows:
ARTICLE 1
For the purposes of this Agreement:

1. ?Protection Claim? means a request from a person to the government of a Party
for protection consistent with their respective obligations under the 1951
Convention or the 1967 Protocol, or the Convention Against Torture, in
accordance with the Parties? respective laws and policies implementing those
obligations, or any other equivalent temporary protection available under E1
Salvadomian migration law.

2. ?Protection Claimant? means any person who makes a Protection Claim in the
territory of one of the Parties.

3. ?Protection Determination System? means the sum of laws and administrative
and judicial practices employed by each Party?s national government for the
purpose of adjudicating Protection Claims. In the case of El Salvador, it means
any applicable laws, regulations, decrees, or resolutions.

4. ?Unaccompanied Minor? means a Protection Claimant who has not yet reached
his or her eighteenth birthday and does not have a parent or legal guardian present
and available to provide care and custody in the country where the
Unaccompanied Minor is encountered, either in the United States or El Salvador.

ARTICLE 2

This Agreement does not apply to Protection Claimants who are citizens or nationals of
El Salvador; or who, not having a country of nationality, are habitual residents of El
Salvador.

ARTICLE 3

1. In order to ensure that Protection Claimants have access to a Protection
Determination System, El Salvador shall not return or remove a Protection
Claimant referred by the United States under the terms of Article 4 to another
country until an administratively ?nal adjudication of the person?s Protection
Claim has been made.

2. El Salvador shall not remove a Protection Claimant transferred to El Salvador
under the terms of this Agreement pursuant to any other agreement or regulatory
designation. El Salvador shall have a procedure to resolve, consistent with its
domestic law and international obligations, potential abandonment of claims by
individuals transferred under this agreement.

3. During the transfer process as determined in the implementation plan, individuals
subject to this agreement will be the responsibility of the United States until the
transfer process is complete.

ARTICLE 4

1. Responsibility for determining the Protection Claim shall rest with the United
States, where the United States determines that the person:

a. Is an Unaccompanied Minor; or
b. Arrived in the territory of the United States:
i. With a validly issued visa or other valid admission document,
other than for transit, issued by the United States; or
ii. Not being required to obtain a visa by the United States.
2. El Salvador shall not be required to accept the transfer of a Protection Claimant

until a ?nal determination with respect to paragraph 1 is made by the United
States.

Subject to paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article, El Salvador shall examine, in
accordance with its Protection Determination System, to determine the Protection
Claim of any person who makes such claims after arriving at a port of entry, or
crossing a border between ports of entry of the United States on or after the
effective date of this Agreement.

The United States shall apply this Agreement with respect to Unaccompanied
Minors consistent with its national law.

El Salvador shall not dispute any decision of the United States that an individual
quali?es for an exception under Articles 4 and 5 of this Agreement.

The Parties will have procedures in place to ensure that transfers of Protection
Claimants to El Salvador are consistent with the Parties respective obligations
and national laws.

ARTICLE 5

Notwithstanding any provision of this Agreement, either Party may at its own discretion
examine any Protection Claim made to that Party where it determines that it is in its
public interest to do so.

ARTICLE 6

The Parties may:

1.

Exchange such information as may be necessary for the effective implementation
of this Agreement subject to national laws and regulations. That information shall
not be disclosed by the Party of the receiving country except in accordance with
its national laws and regulations. The Parties shall seek to ensure that information
is not exchanged or disclosed in such a way as to place Protection Claimants or
their families at risk in their countries of origin.

Exchange on a regular basis information on the laws, regulations, and practices
relating to their respective Protection Determination Systems.

ARTICLE 7

. The Parties shall develop standard operating procedures to assist with the

implementation of this Agreement. These procedures shall include provisions for
noti?cation, to El Salvador, in advance of the transfer of any Protection Claimant
pursuant to this Agreement. The United States shall work with El Salvador to
identify appropriate individuals to be transferred pursuant to this agreement.

Those procedures shall include mechanisms for resolving differences respecting
the interpretation and implementation of the terms of this Agreement. Issues that
cannot be resolved through these mechanisms shall be settled through diplomatic
channels.

The United States intends to cooperate with El Salvador in order to strengthen El
Salvador?s institutional capacities.

The Parties agree to review this Agreement and its implementation. The ?rst
review shall take place not later than 3 months from the date of entry into force of
this Agreement and shall bejointly conducted by representatives of each Party.
The Parties may invite other appropriate organizations with expertise, as agreed
upon by the Parties, to participate in this initial review. The Parties may
cooperate with such organizations in the monitoring of this Agreement, provided
that those organizations agree to provide such consultation services. 

Within 7 days of the entry into force of this agreement, the Parties intend to
complete an initial implementation plan that seeks to address, among other
things: procedures necessary to effectuate the transfer of individuals under
this agreement; the volume or number of individuals to be transferred; and 
institutional capacity requirements. Until the initial implementation plan is
completed, the parties do not plan to operationalize this agreement.

ARTICLE 8

Both Parties shall, upon request, endeavor to assist each other in the resettlement of
individuals determined to require protection in appropriate circumstances.

1.

ARTICLE 9

This Agreement shall enter into force upon exchange of notes by both Parties
indicating that each has completed the necessary domestic legal procedures for
bringing the Agreement into force.

Either Party may terminate this Agreement upon six months? written notice to the
other Party.

3. Either Party may, immediately upon written notice to the other Party, suspend for
an initial period of up to three months? application of this Agreement. Such
suspension may be renewed for additional periods of up to three months upon
written notice to the other Party. Either Party may, with the written agreement of
the other Party, suspend any part of this Agreement.

4. The Parties may agree on any modi?cation of or addition to this Agreement in
writing. When so agreed, and approved in accordance with the applicable legal
procedures of each Party, a modi?cation or addition shall constitute an integral
part of this Agreement.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the undersigned, being duly authorized by their respective
governments, have signed this Agreement.

DONE at this_ day of 2019, in duplicate in the English
and Spanish languages, each text being equally authentic.

 

 

FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FOR THE GOVERNMENT OF THE
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: REPUBLIC OF EL SALVADOR:
Kevin?K. McAleenan Ale Mow

Acting Secretary ister

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Ministry of Foreign Relations