The unprecedented shutdown of borders and restrictions on migration in response to the Covid-19 pandemic have put the core principles of refugee protection to test and resulted in the erosion of the right to asylum and violations of the principle of non-refoulment (no one should be returned to a country where they would face torture; cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment; or punishment and other irreparable harm). Covid-19 is being used by some governments as an excuse to block people from the right to seek asylum and implement their nationalist agendas of border closures and anti-immigration policies.Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office