Oct31
Israeli Supreme Court Rules: Taxation and Employment Restrictions on Employers of “foreign workers” Apply to Employers of Asylum Seekers Too
October 31, 2017
The Israeli Supreme Court recently handed down two decisions that would further restrict the employment opportunities of asylum seekers in Israel. In one, the court considered a "foreign worker tax" levied on employers of asylum seekers. The court is the first judiciary in the world to consider the legitimacy of "foreign worker taxes" levied on employers of asylum seekers under the Refugee Convention.
Read More
Sep22
Protection Elsewhere – The New Norm of the Common European Asylum System?
EU, Turkey, Greece, Syria, September 22, 2017
Now, over a year after the EU-Turkey deal was signed, the agreement is being employed as a blueprint for the next phase of the Common European Asylum System and is leading to an erosion of respect for international human rights laws and norms.
Read More
Aug6
Understanding “Suffering,” Yet Misconstruing Intentionality: U.S. Compliance and Non-Compliance with the Convention against Torture
United States, August 6, 2017
With respect to the intentionality requirement in the Convention Against Torture, the U.S interpretation of “severe pain or suffering” differs with that of international bodies charged with implementation and norm-setting, putting the U.S. at odds with its international treaty obligations.
Read More
Jun11
Nationality as an Element of the Refugee Definition and the Unsettled Issues of ‘Inchoate Nationality’ and ‘Effective Nationality’
June 11, 2017
The first of a two-part article dealing with the issues of ‘inchoate nationality’ and ‘effective nationality’ in the context of determination of nationality as an element of the refugee definition.
Read More
May5
A Child-Rights Framework for Understanding ‘Being Persecuted’: The Case of JA (child – risk of persecution) Nigeria
Nigeria, May 5, 2017
In recent years, we have seen the development of a sophisticated body of jurisprudence tackling the specific challenges faced by child refugees in seeking international protection. Although still nascent, this development is long overdue.
Read More
Mar27
Denial at the Airport, Denial of Procedural Fairness: Examining the Korean Refugee Act
Korea, March 27, 2017
The Korean Refugee Act made it possible to apply for refugee status at ports of entry into Korea. However, at the same time, the act allows immigration officers at ports of entry to decline the referral of an application to the refugee status determination procedure. Anyone who is denied the referral is prohibited from leaving a small waiting room in the airport. In the case of 30385, a Sudanese asylum seeker challenged this state of affairs.
Read More
Feb3
Executive (Dis)order and Refugees—The Trump Policy’s Blindness to International Law
United States, February 3, 2017
There is a gross mismatch between the risk asserted and the persons banned – of precisely the kind that is at odds with the “objective and reasonable” test that a policy must satisfy to avoid characterization under international law as illegal discrimination.
Read More
Dec5
Protecting Refugee Property and Dignity: A Brief Comment on the Legal and Ethical Basis of the Danish “Jewelry Law”
Denmark, December 5, 2016
In framing the Danish “Jewelry Law” as an example of a law that occupies the grey area between what is legal and what is ethical, this article seeks to understand what such a grey area means for our current system of international protection in Europe and beyond.
Read More
Oct7
A Really, Really Bad Month for Refugees
October 7, 2016
In twin summits in New York this past September, governments had the chance to agree to a new era of refugee protection. That did not happen.
Read More
Jul11
Can Israel Freely Interpret the Refugee Convention (When it Comes to Palestinian Asylum Seekers)?
Israel, July 11, 2016
An Israeli immigration tribunal recently decided that (all) Palestinians who seek asylum in Israel are excluded from the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees under Article 1D thereof. In doing so, the Tribunal went against numerous decisions and academic writings to the contrary.
Read More