Asylum (international law)
Asylum in international law refers to the protection granted by a country to individuals who have fled persecution in their home country. This concept has historical roots, dating back to ancient practices of providing sanctuary. Modern asylum rights began to take shape after World War II, significantly influenced by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) adopted in 1948, which established asylum as a human right. Key legal frameworks, such as the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, clarify who qualifies as a refugee and outline the rights and protections afforded to them.
Individuals seeking asylum are initially referred to as asylum seekers until their claims are validated. Upon approval, they receive protections, including non-refoulement rights, which prevent their return to a country where they may face danger. The right to asylum is subject to national discretion, and while many countries offer asylum, some do not recognize an individual right to it. The topic has remained contentious, particularly highlighted by recent refugee crises, leading to ongoing debates and policy developments, such as the European Union's New Pact on Migration and Asylum, aimed at creating a cohesive approach among member states.
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Asylum (international law)
The right of asylum is a law that allows one country to provide protection and offer refuge to persecuted individuals, who are referred to as refugees once asylum has been granted by another country. Though the act of granting asylum to people fleeing persecution has existed for centuries, modern asylum rights were primarily developed during the second half of the twentieth century in the aftermath of World War II (1939–1945).
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted in 1948, contains several articles related to the right of asylum. While Article 13 outlines every individual's right to leave any country, including their own, Article 14 elaborates by guaranteeing the right to seek and to enjoy asylum from persecution in other countries. Asylum laws were further polished on a national level at the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees as well as the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, both of which helped to better define who qualifies as a refugee. The US government has granted asylum to thousands of refugees annually, providing financial and medical assistance to them through nonprofit resettlement agencies.
Background
The act of granting asylum to people dates back to antiquity, with many ancient civilizations adhering to a widespread custom of providing sanctuary across boundaries. Ancient Greece was one of the first communities to outline a specific asylum law within its amphictyony, which translates as "league of neighbors," detailing these rights in the symmachia, the Greek term for alliances and treaties. International laws were further established through the Middle Ages and into the modern period, though rules for asylum saw little progress in the interim. By the seventeenth century, asylum came to refer primarily to religious asylum in Europe and Latin America. The Huguenots, members of a French Protestant group, were regularly subjected to religious persecution following King Louis XIV's 1685 edict that permitted forceful conversion of Huguenots to Catholicism by any means necessary. Many Protestants left France during this time and sought asylum in Prussia. Prussian ruler Frederick William issued his own edict in response to France granting the Huguenots asylum in his territories. Prussia's decision influenced Denmark, England, the Netherlands, and other countries to also allow fleeing Protestants to settle within their borders.
Asylum laws continued to evolve into the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, beginning with the start of the French Revolution (1789–1799). Following the demise of the French aristocracy, a number of upper class French citizens sought refuge in various regions of Europe. This era also saw a number of ideological divides throughout Europe, which contained both kingdoms and republics. As a result, the period saw many people fleeing from oppression and seeking political asylum.
The 1833 Belgian Law on Extradition laid the groundwork for political asylum law around the world. It states that political offenders should not be extradited to their home countries. This rule was later incorporated into the Belgo–French Extradition Treaty of 1834. Language opposing extradition was later affirmed in the Oxford Resolution on Extradition of 1880, which prohibits extradition related to non-violent political acts.
Asylum laws were more firmly established following the end of World War II and the formation of the United Nations. In December 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which contains provisions relating to the rights and restrictions of territorial asylum and asylum seekers. This measure was the first to recognize asylum as a human right and would lead to the creation of the Declaration on Territorial Asylum adopted in 1967. The United Nations' 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees further outlines the definition of a refugee. Though the right of a state to provide asylum was universally recognized, efforts to establish a globally embraced, individual right to territorial asylum have been largely met with resistance.
Overview
The term right to asylum can be understood as an individual's right to asylum or as the right of a nation to offer asylum to an individual. A state has the authority to grant asylum to those seeking relief from persecution at its own discretion. Per the Declaration on Territorial Asylum, the right to offer asylum is a humanitarian effort and cannot be regarded as an unfriendly action by allied nations. The declaration further expresses this principal by stating a country's decision to grant asylum must be respected by other countries. Restrictions are limited to the conventions and treaties that may bind a nation. Though a collective global authorization of an individual right to asylum does not exist, some nations do grant an individual the right to asylum. Those seeking refuge in nations that do not support individual rights to asylum still receive the various rights of protection extended to refugees by the host country.
Before an individual is granted asylum by a nation, the cause of a fleeing individual's persecution must first be understood. A person is not referred to as a refugee until it has been determined the individual meets the standard criteria set by the 1951 Convention. Until a decision has been reached, the person is referred to as an asylum seeker. Once the persecutor of the asylum seeker has been established, authorities must also confirm that the fleeing individual's nation is unable or unwilling to protect the person from persecution or serious harm. Once an individual's request for asylum has been accepted, the individual obtains several rights protecting him or her from being returned, extradited, or expelled to a country of persecution. These rights are referred to as non-refoulement rights and are based on humanitarian principles. A nation may then extend financial and medical assistance to refugees to help them settle in their new place of residence. A nation has the right to refuse a request for asylum if an individual has previously committed war crimes, a crime against humanity, or any other serious, non-political crime outside the country of refuge.
Asylum rights remained a topic of contention well into the twenty-first century, with a prominent example being the discourse centered on the large influx of refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers into Europe in the 2010s. Following years of debate, in 2020 the European Union (EU) announced the New Pact on Migration and Asylum, a policy that sought to create a universal framework for the asylum and migration processes across EU member countries. However, the topic remained controversial, especially with countries that had already received a large number of migrants and refugees, which caused negotiations on the common migration and asylum policy to stall. Such a deadlock saw EU member countries compromising on measures related to the migration and asylum processes as a means to finalize the policy so that it would be ready for the 2024 European Parliament election. The EU adopted the new policy in May 2024.
Similar to the EU, asylum became a contentious issue in the US in the twenty-first century, as more migrants from Central and South America sought asylum in the US. In 2024, the Biden administration announced new rules that made asylum more difficult. The restriction barred migrants from being granted asylum if US officials deemed the southern border was overwhelmed, a change to previous rules that only allowed the US to restrict asylum access when the number of migrants crossing at official crossings hit 2,500 people per day. Many advocacy groups condoned this change.
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