refugees.” Under the resolution, if a Red Notice is brought against an individual who a member country confirms has refugee status, Interpol will decline publication of the Red Notice or delete it if it is already published. However, the resolution also aims “to ensure that refugee status is not abused by terrorists and other criminals.” The resolution does not offer any protection to asylum seekers. Despite the recognition by Interpol that more needs to be done to protect refugees, there have been documented cases of refugees being the subject of Red Notices. For example, Hakeem al-Alraibi, who has refugee status in Australia, was subject to a Red Notice in 2018, a year after the refugee resolution was passed (for more on this case, see below). As of February 2024, 6,820 Red Notices were publicly available on the Interpol website. According to Fair Trials, a global campaigner for fair criminal justice, around 10,000 Red Notices are published per year. The Interpol Annual Report of 2021 stated that in 2021 the exact figure was 10,776. This means that a large proportion of Red Notices are not publicly available. In 2021, Interpol stated that there were 69,270 valid Red Notices in circulation, meaning that around 90 percent of Red Notices are not disclosed.9 This lack of transparency allows authorities who might use Red Notices for politically motivated reasons to continue doing so without the concern of being monitored or scrutinized. According to Interpol, a Red Notice may be made public if the National Central Bureau requesting the Red Notice asks for it to be published, and the Task Force approves this request.10 Individuals who believe they may be under a Red Notice may make a formal request to the relevant office at Interpol asking for access to their file. However, people who are under Red Notices often are unaware, sometimes only finding out upon arrest. People under an Interpol Red Notice may also face travel restrictions, employment limitations, or frozen assets. The cases below exemplify how governments have abused Interpol and the Red Notice system. 9 For reference: The 2021 Annual Report stated that there were 69270 Red Notices. As of February 2024, are 6820 published on the website. Calculation is (6820/69270)*100 = circa. 10% 10 Correspondence from Interpol’s General Secretariat to Human Rights Watch dated December 13, 2023 “WE WILL FIND YOU” 36