Asylum seeker

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. 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 and given refugee status if their circumstances fall into the definition of refugee according to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees

Asylum and protection

thumb|[[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:

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. This asylum right is also included in 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. 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 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.

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. Nevertheless, researchers from a wide range of disciplines have continuously identified issues with how officials determine if they believe what a person claiming asylum tell about their past experiences, their identity, and relationships. This process - often referred to as the credibility assessment - has been found to be influenced by stereotypes, misconceptions about human memory and -behaviour, as well as institutional features.

Subsidiary protection status

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. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and European Union law have a broader definition of who is entitled to asylum.

Temporary protection visa

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

In the past 2 decades the number people applying for asylum every year varied between 0.6 and 2.8 million.

{| class="wikitable sortable sticky-header"

! 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.

Status determination processes

Group determination

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.

Individual assessment

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.

Appeals

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.

Rights of asylum seekers

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. 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. This includes access to medical and psychological care.

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.

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.

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.

Destitution

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.

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.

Long waiting times significantly reduce the likelihood to obtain a job and the social integration of refugees.

Identity

Absence of identity documents or disputes of identity can make the demonstration of persecution for the right of asylum more complex. Persons seeking protection based on "social identity" makers, such as religion or being LGBTQ+, are faced with the additional challenge of making their inner beliefs, sexual orientation, or gender identity seem credible to the official, in order to be entitled to protection.

Refusal of asylum

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 in line with non-refoulement. The latter are most often placed in immigration detention before being deported.

Asylum and refugee law by jurisdiction

{| class="wikitable"

!Jurisdiction

!Article

!Past and present legislation/treaties

!Related organizations and programs

!Related events and people

Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa
Kampala Convention

|Africa Refugee Day

|Asylum in Australia

|Asylum Seeker Resource Centre

|Uyghur asylum in Albania

|Refugees in Azerbaijan

National Committee for Refugees (, CONARE)

|Asylum in Canada

Immigration and Refugee Protection Act
Canada–United States Safe Third Country Agreement

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada

|Hong Kong asylum seekers in Canada

(incl. )

|Refugees in Hong Kong

|Justice Centre Hong Kong

|Zouxian

|American fugitives in Cuba

Center Sandholm
Danish Refugee Council

|Asylum in the European Union

Dublin Regulation
European Social Charter
Reception Conditions Directive, 2003
Policy Plan on Asylum, 2008
European Pact on Immigration and Asylum, 2008
Asylum Procedures Directive, 2013

European Asylum Support Office
European Asylum Curriculum
Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund
Eurodac
European Council on Refugees and Exiles
European Database on Asylum Law

|European refugee crisis

|Finnish Refugee Council

|Immigration to Finland

|Asylum in France

Code of Entry and Residence of Foreigners and of the Right to Asylum
Law on immigration and integration, 2006
Law on the control of immigration, integration and asylum, 2007

France terre d'asile
Office français de protection des réfugiés et apatrides (OFPRA; Office for the Protection of Refugees and Stateless Persons)

|Asylum in Germany

Albert Einstein German Academic Refugee Initiative Fund (offered by UNHCR)
Pro Asyl

METAdrasi
Hellenic Rescue Team

|2016 Turkish military asylum incident in Greece

|Refugees in India

Migration and Asylum Project
UNHCR Representation in India

Doras
Irish Refugee Council
Movement of Asylum Seekers in Ireland
Nasc
Sanctuary Runners

Bulelani Mfaco
Lucky Khambule

|Israeli policy for non-Jewish African refugees

Usumain Baraka
Eduard Stavytsky
Payam Feili

| Latin America

|Cartagena Declaration on Refugees

UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees
Association Najdeh

|Refugees in New Zealand

|Refugee Status Appeals Authority

|Refugees in Norway

|Norwegian Refugee Council

|Rafał Gaweł

|Refugees in Pakistan

|(incl. )

|Refugees and asylum in Russia

|Edward Lee Howard

|Refugees in South Korea

|Refugees on Jeju Island

Be aware and share
UniRef

|Asylum in the UK

Polish Resettlement Act, 1947
Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act, 2002
Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act, 2004
UK Borders Act, 2007

Asylum and Immigration Tribunal
Asylum Support Partnership
Refugee Council
Scottish Refugee Council
Unity
Welsh Refugee Council

|Jews escaping to the United Kingdom

|(incl. )

Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951
Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1967

|Organizations:

UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)
International Refugee Organization
UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador
International Organization for Migration
UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Nansen International Office for Refugees

Documentation:

Humanitarian visa
Refugee identity certificate
Refugee travel document

Campaigns/initiatives:

World Refugee Day
Nansen Refugee Award

|Asylum in the United States

Immigration and Nationality Act, 1952
Migration and Refugee Assistance Act, 1962
Immigration and Nationality Act, 1965
United States Refugee Act, 1980
Immigration Act, 1990
Canada–United States Safe Third Country Agreement

Immigration and Naturalization Service
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)

|Operation Provide Comfort