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Asylum seeker

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(Redirected from Asylum application)
For other uses, see Asylum seeker (disambiguation).

Asylum Seekers by Country of Origin
Total population
6,858,499[1] (2023)
Regions with significant populations
Venezuela1,200,130
Cuba329,692
Nicaragua308,032
Colombia301,824
Afghanistan296,033
Sudan253,902
Haiti228,443
Honduras216,873
Iraq192,202
Syria182,954
Somalia179,224
Guatemala176,035
Mexico156,309
Democratic Republic of the Congo153,142
India142,607
Ethiopia139,424
China137,143
El Salvador133,042
Russia114,669
Eritrea104,892
Unknown95,550
Asylum Seekers by Country of Asylum
Total population
6,858,499[2] (2023)
Regions with significant populations
US2,601,467
Peru508,429
Germany361,493
Mexico257,396
Egypt232,244
Turkey222,069
Spain204,270
Canada197,961
Costa Rica193,718
Kenya152,942

An asylum seeker or asylum-seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14.[3] A person keeps the status of asylum seeker until the right of asylum application has concluded.

The relevant immigration authorities of the country of asylum determine whether the asylum seeker will be granted the right of asylum protection or whether asylum will be refused and the asylum seeker becomes an illegal immigrant who may be asked to leave the country and may even be deported in line with non-refoulement. Signatories to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights[3] create their own policies for assessing the protection status of asylum seekers, and the proportion of asylum applicants who are accepted or rejected varies each year from country to country.

The asylum seeker may be simultaneously recognized as a refugee[4] and given refugee status if their circumstances fall into the definition of refugee according to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees[4] or regionally applicable refugee laws—such as the European Convention on Human Rights, if within the European Union.

The terms asylum seeker, refugee and illegal immigrant are often confused. In North American English, the term asylee is used both for an asylum seeker, as defined above, and a person whose right of asylum has been granted.[5]

Asylum and protection

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Further information: Right of asylum
Konrad Schumann, an East German border guard, fleeing East Germany towards West Germany in 1962

The right of asylum according to the Article 14 of Universal Declaration of Human Rights:

1. Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.

2. This right may not be invoked in the case of prosecutions genuinely arising from non-political crimes or from acts contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations.

— Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 14

Asylum seekers who have committed crimes against peace, a war crime or a crime against humanity, or other non-political crimes, or whose actions are contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations, are excluded from international protection.[6] This asylum right is also included in 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees[7] and 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees.[8] As of 1 July 2013, there were 145 parties to the 1951 Refugee Convention and 146 to the 1967 Protocol. These states are bound by an obligation under international law to grant asylum to people who fall within the definition of Convention and Protocol.[9] Persons who do not fall within this definition may still be granted refugee according to the refugee definitions of 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees[7] and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees[8] and persons who fall within this definition are called Convention refugees and their status is called Convention refugee status. Complementary forms of protection exist depending on country if the person falls within other refugee definitions.

The practical determination of whether a person obtains the right of asylum or not is most often left to certain government agencies within the host country. In some countries the refugee status determination (RSD) is done by the UNHCR. The burden of substantiating an asylum claim lies with the claimant, who must establish that they qualify for protection.[10][11]

In many countries, country-of-origin information is used by migration officials as part of the assessment of asylum claims, and governments commission research into the accuracy of their country reports. Some countries have studied the rejection rates of their migration officials making decisions, finding that individuals reject more applicants than others assessing similar cases—and migration officials are required to standardise the reasons for accepting or rejecting claims, so that the decision of one adjudicator is consistent with what their colleagues decide.[12]

Subsidiary protection status

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Subsidiary protection is an international protection for persons seeking asylum who do not qualify as refugees. It is an option to get asylum for those who do not have a well-founded fear of persecution (which is required for refugee status according to the 1951 Convention), but do indeed have a substantial risk to be subjected to torture or to a serious harm if they are returned to their country of origin, for reasons that include war, violence, conflict and massive violations of human rights.[13] The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and European Union law have a broader definition of who is entitled to asylum.

Subsidiary protection as the name implies, serves as an additional form of international protection that is meant to act as an alternative to refugee status [14]. It means that a person should only be granted subsidiary protection if the requirements for refugee status are not satisfied or applicable. While refugee status is based on a well-established fear of persecution due to these five specific grounds; race, religion, nationality, political opinion, membership of a particular social group. Subsidiary protection is granted if the person faces a real risk of serious harm. According to the European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA), [15] serious harm consists of:

1. The death penalty or execution.

2. Torture or inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

3.Serious and individual threat to a civilian's life or person by reason of indiscriminate violence in situations like international or internal armed conflict.

A subsidiary protection status seeker can be denied a protection status if the [16] seeker have one way or the other has committed any of the following: a war crime, a crime against peace or against humanity, a serious (non-political) criminal offence, has breached the goals and principles of the United Nations, is to be regarded as a risk to the security of the country he is seeking protection from, or constitutes a danger to the public because he/she has been finally sentenced to at least three years imprisonment [15].

It is worthy of note that subsidiary protection status is the safety net for everyday persons, people whose names are [17] only seen on court documents as initials. But specifically, Meki and Noor Elgafaji, an Iraqi couple, happen to be the most known names in the history of subsidiary protection. This Iraqi couple fled to The Netherlands in 2006. Because they were not political activists or religious leaders, meaning that ordinary civilians fleeing indiscriminate violence like the war in Iraq at the time are entitled to subsidiary protection even if they are not being personally targeted.

On the other hand, families from war-torn countries have most especially been recipients of subsidiary protection status. For instance, Mr. Nawaz was granted subsidiary protection status in Ireland, also a Syrian woman and her children who were granted protection in Greece had to move to Germany due to the poor living conditions in Greek subsidiary protection camps. This established that if one EU country grants protection, other countries are obliged to generally respect that status, especially if the first country cannot provide basic human dignity. Also, a Nigerian man with a permanent residence in Ukraine and his Ukrainian family members had to flee to Sweden during the 2022 invasion.

Subsidiary protection status is a safety net for everyday civilians, workers, artisans or people who do not feel safe in their home country.

Temporary protection visa

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Temporary protection visas are used to persons in Australia who applied for refugee status after making an unauthorised arrival. It is the main type of visa issued to refugees when released from Australian immigration detention facilities and they are required to reapply for it every three years.

Statistics of asylum decisions

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In the past 2 decades the number people applying for asylum every year varied between 0.6 and 2.8 million.[18] Outcomes of asylum applications 2000-2023 according to UNHCR:[18]

Year Total Asylum Granted Other Protection Rejected Otherwise closed
2023 2,498,303 612,908 210,910 581,725 1,092,760
2022 2,057,838 535,551 181,210 584,481 756,596
2021 1,422,047 381,074 114,406 528,552 398,015
2020 1,381,088 350,791 108,794 542,999 379,044
2019 1,730,880 446,842 123,555 664,540 494,663
2018 1,647,261 351,123 148,849 633,046 514,242
2017 2,006,176 483,885 248,316 753,286 520,689
2016 2,844,805 564,859 335,016 604,795 1,340,135
2015 1,647,628 443,658 237,475 500,805 465,690
2014 1,393,642 277,959 336,783 429,690 349,210
2013 880,516 213,642 72,597 375,408 218,869
2012 913,275 210,828 50,902 436,913 204,849
2011 768,675 172,467 43,714 359,759 192,043
2010 730,596 174,983 47,676 355,271 152,667
2009 762,119 229,008 50,615 321,589 161,411
2008 706,269 156,297 63,889 325,688 154,869
2007 644,001 149,460 60,051 260,306 174,206
2006 692,537 141,358 50,711 306,655 193,757
2005 829,228 153,057 51,197 361,864 263,110
2004 891,175 128,182 51,212 445,057 266,665
2003 1,002,084 146,358 49,099 522,096 285,406
2002 1,010,251 161,926 62,105 524,552 261,728
2001 946,486 169,283 79,652 452,180 245,155
2000 1,090,296 203,350 93,392 543,111 249,475

The percentage of women among asylum seekers to Europe from 2008 to 2018 was 31%, which could be explained by factors including gender inequality in origin country and economic incentives.[19]

Status determination processes

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Further information: Refugee § Refugee status determination, and Refugee law § Refugee status determination

Group determination

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Asylum seekers may be given refugee status on a group basis. Refugees who went through the group status determination are also referred to as prima facie refugees. This is done in situations when the reasons for seeking refugee status are generally well known and individual assessment would otherwise overwhelm the capacities of assessors. Group determination is more readily done in states that not only have accepted the refugee definition of the 1951 Convention, but also use a refugee definition that includes people fleeing indiscriminate or generalized violence, which are not covered in the 1951 Convention.[20]

Individual assessment

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For persons who do not come into the country as part of a bigger group, individual asylum interviews are conducted to establish whether the person has sufficient reasons for seeking asylum. Meanwhile, high numbers of asylum seekers necessitate governments to provide machine learning systems to assist both asylum seekers and immigration officers in performing fair and just assessments.[21]

Appeals

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In many countries, asylum applicants can challenge a rejection by challenging the decision in a court or migration review panel. In the United Kingdom, more than one in four decisions to refuse an asylum seeker protection are overturned by immigration judges.[22]

Rights of asylum seekers

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Further information: Right of asylum

Whilst waiting for a decision asylum seekers have limited rights in the country of asylum. In most countries they are not allowed to work and in some countries not even to volunteer. In some countries they are not allowed to move freely within the country.[citation needed] Even access to health care is limited. In the European Union, those who have yet to be granted official status as refugees and are still within the asylum process have some restricted rights to healthcare access.[23] This includes access to medical and psychological care.[23] However, these may vary depending on the host country. For instance, under the Asylum Seekers Benefits Act (Asylbewerberleistungsgesetz) in Germany, asylum seekers are outside primary care and are limited to emergency health care, vaccinations, pregnancy and childbirth with limitations on specialty care.[23] Asylum seekers have greater chance of experiencing unmet health needs as compared to the general German population. Asylum seekers also have greater odds of hospital admissions and at least one visit to a psychotherapist relative to the German general population.[citation needed]

Concerns in asylum-seeking processes

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Research suggests cross-sector collaboration is key to assist refugees and asylum seekers resettle and integrate into receiving communities, workplaces and schools.[24][25][26][27]

Non-governmental organizations concerned with refugees and asylum seekers have pointed out difficulties for displaced persons to seek asylum in industrialized countries. As the immigration policy in many countries often focuses on the fight of illegal immigration and the strengthening of border controls, it deters displaced persons from entering territory in which they could lodge an asylum claim. The lack of opportunities to legally access the asylum procedures can force displaced persons to undertake often expensive and hazardous attempts at illegal entry.

In recent years, the public as well as policy makers of many countries are focusing more and more on refugees arriving through third country resettlement and pay less and less attention to asylum seekers and those who have already been granted refugee status but did not come through resettlement. Asylum seekers have even been referred to as 'queue jumpers', because they did not wait for their chance to be resettled.[28]

Legal interpreters are assigned to assist asylum seekers throughout interviews and court proceedings. These legal interpreters reflect the training they received in the training program they were certified in. The accuracy of the legal interpretation may vary depending on the training received from the interpreter and potential biases they carry coming into the interpreting session. Lack of training in asylum settings may influence interpretation sessions.[29]

Quality of life of asylum seekers and refugees is highly correlated with the mental health status. The presence of mental disorders like depression or PTSD is mainly due to the forced migration and the resettlement in host countries.[30]

Destitution

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Because asylum seekers often have to wait for months or years for the results of their asylum applications and because they are usually not allowed to work and only receive minimal or no financial support, destitution is a considerable risk.[citation needed]

Asylum seekers usually get some kind of support from governments whilst their application is processed. However, in some countries this support ends immediately once they are given refugee status. But the fact that they were given refugee status does not mean that they were already given all the documents they need for starting their new lives.[31] Long waiting times significantly reduce the likelihood to obtain a job and the social integration of refugees.[30]

Vacation

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Asylum seekers vacationing in home country has been argued as a reason for refusal of asylum.[32]

Identity

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Absence of identity documents or disputes of identity can make the demonstration of persecution for the right of asylum more complex.[33]

Refusal of asylum

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Further information: Deportation, Repatriation, and Removal proceedings

It often happens that the country neither recognizes the refugee status of the asylum seekers nor sees them as legitimate migrants and thus treats them as illegal aliens. If an asylum claim has been rejected, the asylum seeker is said to be refused asylum and called a failed asylum seeker. Some failed asylum seekers return home voluntarily. Depending on the country, failed asylum seekers are allowed to remain temporarily or are forcibly returned[34] in line with non-refoulement.[35] The latter are most often placed in immigration detention before being deported.

Asylum and refugee law by jurisdiction

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Jurisdiction Article Past and present legislation/treaties Related organizations and programs Related events and people
African Union Africa Refugee Day
Australia Asylum in Australia Asylum Seeker Resource Centre
Albania Uyghur asylum in Albania
Azerbaijan Refugees in Azerbaijan
Brazil
Canada Asylum in Canada Hong Kong asylum seekers in Canada
China

(incl. Hong Kong)

Refugees in Hong Kong Justice Centre Hong Kong Zouxian
Cuba American fugitives in Cuba
Denmark
Europe Asylum in the European Union European refugee crisis
Finland Finnish Refugee Council Immigration to Finland
France Asylum in France
Germany Asylum in Germany
Greece 2016 Turkish military asylum incident in Greece
India Refugees in India
Ireland
Israel Israeli policy for non-Jewish African refugees
  Latin America Cartagena Declaration on Refugees[i]
Middle East
New Zealand Refugees in New Zealand Refugee Status Appeals Authority
Norway Refugees in Norway Norwegian Refugee Council Rafał Gaweł
Pakistan Refugees in Pakistan
Russia(incl. Soviet Union) Refugees and asylum in Russia Edward Lee Howard
South Korea Refugees in South Korea Refugees on Jeju Island
 Switzerland
UK Asylum in the UK Jews escaping to the United Kingdom
UN(incl. League of Nations) Organizations:

Documentation:

Campaigns/initiatives:

US Asylum in the United States Operation Provide Comfort

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Refugee Data Finder". UNHCR.
  2. ^ "Refugee Data Finder". UNHCR.
  3. ^ a b Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 14
  4. ^ a b Horning, A. (2020). "Double-edged risk: unaccompanied minor refugees (UMRs) in Sweden and their search for safety". Journal of Refugee Studies. 33 (2): 390–415. doi:10.1093/jrs/feaa034. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Asylee Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster".
  6. ^ Handbook on European law relating to asylum, borders and immigration, 2014, page 83
  7. ^ a b Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, UN, 1951
  8. ^ a b "Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1967". UNHCR.
  9. ^ María-Teresa Gil-Bazo, 2006: Refugee status, subsidiary protection, and the right to be granted asylum under EC law; Research Paper No. 136, page 7
  10. ^ "Asylum Policy Instruction: Assessing credibility and refugee status" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  11. ^ "Assessment of Credibility in Claims for Refugee Protection - Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada". Irb-cisr.gc.ca. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  12. ^ "Improving consistency in decision-making". ALRC. 19 December 2011. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 18 December 2015.
  13. ^ María-Teresa Gil-Bazo, 2006: Refugee status, subsidiary protection, and the right to be granted asylum under EC law; Research Paper No. 136, page 10
  14. ^ EUAA (2022). "Subsidiary Protection". European Union Agency for Asylum. European Union Agency for Asylum.
  15. ^ a b Directorate for Legal and Administrative Information (Prime Minister) (2024). "Refugee status, subsidiary or temporary protection: what differences?". Service-Public.
  16. ^ BAMF (2024). "Subsidiary protection". Federal Office for Migration and Refugees.
  17. ^ "Subsidiary protection". CGRS. CGRS.
  18. ^ a b Refugee Data Finder, Dataset Asylum decisions, Population types Asylum-seeker, UNHCR
  19. ^ Schiele, Maximilian (12 January 2024). "The Role of Gender in Asylum Migration to Europe: Analyzing Country-Level Factors of Gendered Selection of Asylum Seekers to Europe". Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies: 1–16. doi:10.1080/15562948.2023.2298515. ISSN 1556-2948.
  20. ^ "UNHCR Resettlement Handbook, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, 2011, page 19" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 October 2014.
  21. ^ McNamara, Robert G; Tikka, Pia (2023). "Well-Founded Fear of Algorithms or Algorithms of Well-Founded Fear? Hybrid Intelligence in Automated Asylum Seeker Interviews". Journal of Refugee Studies. 36 (2): 238–270. doi:10.1093/jrs/feac067.
  22. ^ Shaw, Jan "Will the UK Continue to Have One in Four Refused Asylum Cases Overturned on Appeal?", The Huffington Post, 18 April 2013. Retrieved 20 March 2014.
  23. ^ a b c Schneider, C.; Joos, S.; Bozorgmehr, K. (2015). "Disparities in health and access to healthcare between asylum seekers and residents in Germany: a population-based cross-sectional feasibility study". BMJ Open. 5 (11) e008784. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-008784. PMC 4636623. PMID 26537498.
  24. ^ Lee, Eun Su; Szkudlarek, Betina; Nguyen, Duc Cuong; Nardon, Luciara (April 2020). "Unveiling the Canvas Ceiling: A Multidisciplinary Literature Review of Refugee Employment and Workforce Integration". International Journal of Management Reviews. 22 (2): 193–216. doi:10.1111/ijmr.12222. ISSN 1460-8545. S2CID 216204168.
  25. ^ Lee, Eun Su; Roy, Priya A.; Szkudlarek, Betina (16 August 2021), Chavan, Meena; Taksa, Lucy (eds.), "Integrating Refugees Into the Workplace – A Collaborative Approach", Intercultural Management in Practice, Emerald Publishing Limited, pp. 121–129, doi:10.1108/978-1-83982-826-320211011, ISBN 978-1-83982-827-0, S2CID 238706123, retrieved 27 September 2021{{citation}}: CS1 maint: work parameter with ISBN (link)
  26. ^ Szkudlarek, Betina; Nardon, Luciara; Osland, Joyce S.; Adler, Nancy J.; Lee, Eun Su (August 2021). "When Context Matters: What Happens to International Theory When Researchers Study Refugees". Academy of Management Perspectives. 35 (3): 461–484. doi:10.5465/amp.2018.0150. ISSN 1558-9080.
  27. ^ Lee, Eun Su; Szkudlarek, Betina (14 April 2021). "Refugee employment support: The HRM–CSR nexus and stakeholder co-dependency". Human Resource Management Journal. 31 (4): 1748–8583.12352. doi:10.1111/1748-8583.12352. ISSN 0954-5395. S2CID 234855263.
  28. ^ Resettlement: where's the evidence, what's the strategy?, Alexander Betts, Forced Migration Review 54, January 2017, page 73
  29. ^ Keselman, Olga; et al. (2008). "Mediated communication with minors in asylum-seeking hearings". Journal of Refugee Studies. 21: 103–116. doi:10.1093/jrs/fem051.
  30. ^ a b van der Boor, Catharina F.; Amos, Rebekah; Nevitt, Sarah; Dowrick, Christopher; White, Ross G. (2020). "Systematic review of factors associated with quality of life of asylum seekers and refugees in high-income countries". Conflict and Health. 14 (14): 48. doi:10.1080/20008198.2020.1771008. ISSN 1752-1505. OCLC 8653932484. PMC 7473035. PMID 32699551.
  31. ^ "New refugees face homelessness and destitution". Refugeecouncil.org.uk. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2016.
  32. ^ Salameh, Khaled (11 September 2017). "Do refugees travel to their home countries on vacation? – DW – 09/11/2017". dw.com. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
  33. ^ Griffiths, Melanie (21 June 2012). "Anonymous Aliens? Questions of Identification in the Detention and Deportation of Failed Asylum Seekers". Population, Space and Place. 18 (6): 715–727. doi:10.1002/psp.1723. ISSN 1544-8444.
  34. ^ Zetter, Roger, et al. "An assessment of the impact of asylum policies in Europe, 1990-2000." Home Office Online Report 17.03 (2003).
  35. ^ Vang, Jerry. "Limitations of the Customary International Principle of Non-Refoulement on Non-Party States: Thailand Repatriates the Remaining Hmong-Lao Regardless of International Norms." Wis. Int'l LJ 32 (2014): 355.
  36. ^ "EDAL | European Database of Asylum Law".
  37. ^ "Code de l'entrée et du séjour des étrangers et du droit d'asile [in French]. Légifrance. Updated 27 November 2020. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  38. ^ Home page, ORAM. Retrieved 2020 December 4.

Notes

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  1. ^ Adopted by Belize, Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, and Venezuela

Further reading

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