Article 14, paragraph 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which has been codified in the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, provides that “[e]veryone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.” In November 2022, the European Union (EU) Member States plus Switzerland and Norway received a total of 107,300 asylum applications—the most since 2016 according to the European Union Agency for Asylum. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported a similar worldwide trend. By the end of 2021, 89.3 million people were displaced, including 4.6 million asylum seekers. As of May 2022, the number of forcibly displaced people has risen to 100 million people, which constitutes the highest ever on record. Turkey reportedly hosts the world’s largest population of refugees.
The Global Legal Research Directorate (GLRD) of the Law Library of Congress recently completed research on the asylum application processes in nine selected jurisdictions, focusing, in particular, on processes involved in determining whether an asylum seeker is in need of international protection. We are excited to share with you the report that resulted from this research, Asylum Application Processes. The report covers Canada, Germany, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom (UK), and the EU.
People seeking asylum must prove to the competent authorities that they have a well-founded fear of being persecuted. At what point in the asylum application process this requirement is examined varies from country to country. In Canada, for example, it is not required for a referral for a hearing at the Refugee Protection Division of the Immigration and Refugee Board. The EU has enacted the Asylum Procedures Directive, which establishes common procedures for granting and withdrawing international protection, meaning refugee status and subsidiary protection. Applicants are required to cooperate with the competent authorities and are entitled to a personal interview to determine their eligibility. The EU Member States are obligated to transpose the EU directive into their national laws and comply with its requirements. Even though the UK withdrew from the EU on January 31, 2020, it has transposed a number of EU directives, including the Asylum Procedures Directive, into its national legislation. Likewise, Turkey’s laws are largely in line with the EU laws, with the notable exception of the “temporary protection” status.
We invite you to review the information provided in our report. This report is an addition to the Law Library’s Legal Reports (Publications of the Law Library of Congress) collection, which includes over 3,000 historical and contemporary legal reports covering a variety of jurisdictions, researched and written by foreign law specialists with expertise in each area. To receive alerts when new reports are published, you can subscribe to email updates and the RSS feed for Law Library Reports (click the “subscribe” button on the Law Library’s website). The Law Library also regularly publishes articles related to asylum in the Global Legal Monitor.
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Comments
We have certainly come a long way in time.
There will always be conflicts. Life is not always a fairytale, sometimes it is more of a dreary tale.
World peace is still far off. Today’s wars are fought online and in applications.
With hopes and dreams of happiness and health. Same concepts provide true. Be kind to each other. Do not judge.