The construction of refugee identity (and resulting refugee status) is a complex matter which is infl uenced by social, political and legal elements. Under international law, the legal identity of refugees is determined by the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (‘the Refugee Convention’)1 which defi nes a refugee as a person who is outside their country of nationality and who cannot return to that country due to a well-founded fear of persecution for a Convention reason.2 However, the way in which persons can turn their international identity as a refugee into a domestic status as a refugee is complicated by non-entrée measures directed at preventing access to asylum. Although a refugee has an identity and status at international law, his or her ability to obtain protection is dependent on being recognised as a refugee with a status under the particular national jurisdiction in which the refugee is situated.3 Thus, the conferring of refugee status and its associated rights depends on the willingness of the state to accept an asylum seeker4 into its territory to grant them access to the relevant refugee determination procedure.