In 2013, around one in five people who sought individual refugee status determination applied not to a government, but to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). While sjukskrivningar UNHCR reports that individual asylum applications as a whole rose globally from 2012 to 2013 by 15 percent, the burden of that increase was disproportionately absorbed by UNHCR, with a 61 percent …
The Common European Asylum System (“CEAS”) and the Schengen travel area are in considerable jeopardy. The spontaneous arrival of approximately one million persons in 2015, 90% from the top refugee-producing countries of the world, has cruelly exposed their paradoxes and set in motion centrifugal forces that appear to threaten their very existence. The remedy proposed by the EU …
The Danish Parliament passed a law allowing police to search for and confiscate assets belonging to refugees entering the country’s borders. The law permits police to take any cash or property that exceeds 10,000 DKK (approximately $1456 USD), with the exception of sentimental items like wedding rings. Although the law ostensibly serves as a deterrent to future asylum …
Welcome to Denmark: How Will You Be Paying for Your Stay? Read More »
In December 2007, the Government of Tanzania announced its willingness to offer naturalization as part of a comprehensive solution for Burundian refugees who had been in Tanzania since 1972. This policy announcement was a surprise to many observers of refugee issues in Tanzania in light of the country’s restrictive approach to asylum since the 1990s …
Naturalization in Tanzania: Lessons from the Ebb and Flow of the Process Read More »
The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees (“Refugee Convention”) defines those who are refugees and benefit from the Convention, while also listing exclusion clauses for those who do not benefit from the Convention. As currently interpreted by UNHCR, an asylum-seeker who is also a Palestine refugee is often excluded from Convention status. This …
Narrowing Article 1(D)’s Interpretation to Expand Access to Asylum for Palestinians Read More »
In 2011, a dinghy with 72 migrants traveling from Libya to Lampedusa ran into a series of challenges related to a lack of fuel and food. Despite being within reach of Spanish and Italian military vessels, no one rescued the people on the dinghy, and all but nine migrants died. The devastating governmental failure resulted in …
Migrant Deaths in the Mediterranean and the Failure of the European Union Read More »
When evaluating claims for international protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention, refugee status determination (RSD) systems must take special measures to address two phenomena. First, it is “[a] well-known fact that a person who claims to be a refugee may have difficulties in proving his allegations.” Second, it is well recognized that there are particularly grave …
There are moves ongoing in Africa to create a single continental market for people, goods, services, and capital, much like that of the European Union (EU). Following similar arrangements in place at the sub-regional level, the African Union’s (AU) Assembly of Heads of State and Government adopted the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African …
The Free Movement of Persons within the African Union and Refugee Protection Read More »
The role of the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (“Frontex”) is growing. Within the next few years, it will command 10,000 officers and a budget of 5.6 billion euro. As a consequence of this growth, Frontex agents will increasingly be the first point of contact between migrants and the European Union’s (“EU”) scheme of …
The Republic of Korea became a signatory of the Refugee Convention in 1992, shortly thereafter inserting just a few articles into its domestic immigration laws to adhere to the required procedures of refugee recognition under the Convention. By 2008, applications for refugee status had not exceeded 2,000, and the number of recognized refugees remained around 100. While it …
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