Asylum
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What does 'asylum' mean in law?
In international law, asylum is the protection a state grants to a foreign citizen against their own state. The individual seeking asylum doesn't have a legal right to demand it, and the sheltering state isn't obligated to grant it. The right of asylum includes territorial, extraterritorial, and neutral categories. It is the right of a state to grant asylum to an individual, but it is not the right of an individual to be granted asylum by a state. The right of receiving protection is recognized by custom or treaty.
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Who can apply for asylum?
Asylum is the protection a country grants to a foreign citizen against their own state. Those fleeing armed conflict or persecution, for whom denial of asylum could have deadly consequences, can apply.
The UNHCR defines refugees as those fleeing armed conflict or persecution. Unlike migrants, refugees are forced to leave their homes and are protected from deportation to dangerous situations. They are also entitled to social services and integration into their new country.
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Why do people seek asylum in other countries?
People seek asylum in other countries for protection from their own state. Asylum is granted to a foreign citizen by another state. Those seeking asylum are often accused of political offenses like treason, sedition, or espionage. However, asylum may be denied to those accused of war crimes, terrorist acts, or crimes against humanity. The state is under no obligation to grant asylum, and the individual has no legal right to demand it. The UNHCR ensures minimal rights, such as access to courts, work, education, and freedom from expulsion, for refugees.
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What is the process for getting asylum?
Asylum is a protection granted by a state to a foreign citizen against their own state, but neither the person has a legal right to demand it, nor the sheltering state has an obligation to grant it.
There are three basic categories of asylum:
* Territorial
* Extraterritorial
* NeutralIt is the right of a state to grant asylum to an individual, but it is not the right of an individual to be granted asylum by a state.
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How do governments decide if someone qualifies for asylum?
Governments assess asylum eligibility based on international and national laws, primarily the 1951 Refugee Convention and its 1967 Protocol. These outline criteria for who qualifies as a refugee, namely individuals with a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country due to race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group.
Granting asylum is a state's right, not an individual's right. While the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognizes the right to seek asylum, it doesn't guarantee it. States consider factors like the severity and credibility of the applicant's claims, country conditions, and potential security concerns.
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What rights are given to people who are granted asylum?
Asylum is a protection granted by a country to a foreign citizen against their own state, but neither the person has a legal right to demand it, nor the sheltering state an obligation to grant it. The Refugee Act of 1980 allows persecuted individuals to seek asylum in the United States and bring U.S. law into compliance with international law. The act defines refugee as any person unable or unwilling to return to their country because of persecution or a well-founded fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
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Asylum, in international law, the protection granted by a state to a foreign citizen against his own state. The person for whom asylum is established has no legal right to demand it, and the sheltering state has no obligation to grant it.
The right of asylum falls into three basic categories: territorial, extraterritorial, and neutral. Territorial asylum is granted within the territorial bounds of the state offering asylum and is an exception to the practice of extradition. It is designed and employed primarily for the protection of persons accused of political offenses such as treason, desertion, sedition, and espionage. It has become a widespread practice, however, to exclude from this category persons accused of the murder of a head of state, certain terrorist acts, collaboration with the enemy in time of war, crimes against peace and against humanity, and war crimes. Extraterritorial asylum refers to asylum granted in embassies, legations, consulates, warships, and merchant vessels in foreign territory and is thus granted within the territory of the state from which protection is sought. Cases of extraterritorial asylum granted in embassies, legations, or consulates (generally known as diplomatic asylum) are often occasions for dispute. For example, after an unsuccessful uprising against the communist government of Hungary in 1956, the United States controversially granted diplomatic asylum to dissident Hungarian Roman Catholic József Cardinal Mindszenty, who was given refuge in the U.S. embassy and remained there for 15 years. Neutral asylum is employed by states exercising neutrality during a war to offer asylum within its territory to troops of belligerent states, provided that the troops submit to internment for the duration of the war.
It is the right of a state to grant asylum to an individual, but it is not the right of an individual to be granted asylum by a state. This perspective is reflected in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which, though recognizing (article 14) the right “to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution,” does not explicitly provide a right of asylum. The original draft of that article, which referred to the individual’s right “to seek and to be granted asylum from persecution,” would have afforded more protection to asylum seekers. Similarly recognizing that “the grant of asylum may place unduly heavy burdens on certain countries,” the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, which was adopted by the United Nations (UN) Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Status of Refugees and Stateless Persons in 1951, did not create a right of asylum for those seeking it, and the impressive array of rights it enumerates pertains only to those refugees “lawfully in” or “lawfully staying in” the sheltering state. Subsequent unsuccessful efforts to articulate an individual’s right of asylum included: (1) the UN General Assembly Declaration on Territorial Asylum (1967), which contained substantive exceptions to its non-refoulement (non-return) provision (pertaining to national security and to the safeguarding of its national population), and (2) a proposed Convention on Territorial Asylum, which never materialized.
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In ancient times asylum designated a place of sanctuary or protection from which a person could not be removed forcibly without sacrilege. Later it came to signify an institution for the protection or relief of some class of destitute or otherwise unfortunate persons; its most common uses in this sense were in orphan asylum and insane asylum. See also safe-conduct.