Asylum and Its Discontents in the United States
We usually think of the United States as a country where people fleeing persecution come to seek asylum. But sometimes, American citizens flee their country in search of safety elsewhere. The British Daily Mail reports that five Americans currently have asylum cases pending in the UK. The cases came to light earlier this month when … Read more
Louis Henkin, a leading scholar in international law and foreign policy, professor emeritus at Columbia Law School, and one of the principal architects of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, died last week at age 92. Prof. Henkin led a long and eventful life. He was born Eliezer Henkin in 1917 in Belarus, … Read more
In the 1990’s, Rodolfo Montiel worked to prevent logging companies and land barons from destroying the ecology of his home state of Guerrero, Mexico. For his trouble, he was arrested and tortured by the Mexican military. Eventually, he made his way to the United States, where he received political asylum in 2005. Now, Mr. Montiel … Read more
According to Al Jazeera: “A prisoner who chose to remain in Guantanamo Bay rather than face possible persecution in Algeria has been forcibly repatriated by the US government…. The US military announced on Monday that Abdul Aziz Naji, 35, had been sent back to Algeria after eight years behind bars, the first involuntary transfer from the prison under the Obama administration.” Apparently, … Read more
From the New York Times: The British Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the right of gay asylum seekers not to be deported if they could show that they faced persecution in their home countries. The court ruled unanimously in favor of two men — a Cameroonian who fled his country after being attacked by an … Read more
The U.S. is not the only country that detains asylum seekers. Nor is it the only country where asylum seekers allege abuses during detention. Four female asylum seekers in Great Britain have brought suit claiming that they were abused at that country’s Yarl’s Woods detention center, a 405-bed detention facility for women and families. The Guardian reports … Read more
According to the Brownsville (Texas) Herald, “tens of thousands of Mexican nationals, including many journalists, officials and business leaders… have relocated to the United States since Mexican President Felipe Calderón launched a sweeping offensive against drug organizations in 2006. But because the legal standards of asylum are so high — and some researchers say even … Read more
Now that the State Department Report on Human Rights Practices is out, the critics are weighing in. Mark Weisbrot writes in the Guardian that “After Abu Ghraib, Gitmo and extraordinary renditions, other countries now challenge America’s standing on human rights.” In his piece, “Who is America to Judge?,” Weisbrot writes: Clearly, a state that is … Read more
The United Nations has released a new report on Asylum Levels and Trends in Industrialized Countries for 2009. Some of the report’s key findings: Afghani Refugee Compared to 2008, the overall number of asylum-seekers remained the same with 377,000 applications, despite significant regional disparities highlighted by the report. Afghans topped the list of asylum applicants … Read more