Feb22
U.S. Practices Under International Standards: An Interview with Hardy Vieux, Vice President (Legal), Human Rights First
February 22, 2019
On June 29, 2018, RefLaw Writer B.A. Bacigal interviewed Hardy Vieux, vice president (Legal) at Human Rights First (HRF) about his perspective on current issues in refugee and asylum law. What follows is an edited version of that interview. The views and opinions represented are solely Hardy’s and do not necessarily reflect the views of Human Rights First.
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Jan26
Building Myanmar’s International Responsibility before the ICJ by Recourse to Diplomatic Protection
January 26, 2019
Once host states are aware of, and willing to act on, the deficiencies in their current stance surrounding the persecuting state’s responsibility, it could bring an adversarial suit before an international court, specifically the ICJ. The answer to lacking state responsibility may lie in utilizing diplomatic protection’s pragmatic approach.
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Jan18
Will the Family Unit Remain the “Quintessential” Particular Social Group in the United States?
United States, January 18, 2019
On December 3, 2018, acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker certified a Board of Immigration Appeals decision to himself to address the validity of asylum claims based on membership in a family unit. Despite precedent recognizingthe family unit as a valid particular social group, advocates are rightly concerned that the Attorney General may be attempting to undermine this area of U.S. asylum law.
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Dec21
Circular Security: Cameroon’s Return of Nigerian Refugees is Bad Law and Bad Policy
December 21, 2018
Cameroon has taken to expelling refugees seeking relief from violence at the hands of Boko Haram on the pretense of national security, fearing that Boko Haram has infiltrated its borders. Cameroon’s mass expulsions without more process for individuals violates the country’s obligations under the Convention and Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. Furthermore, there is little evidence that this policy effectively enhances national or regional security.
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Nov24
Asylum Meters & Bans: Trump’s New Border Regime Violates the United States’ Duties under International Refugee Law
November 24, 2018
The Trump administration is metering the number of individuals who are allowed to enter the United States and apply for asylum at points of entry, and prohibiting anyone who enters unlawfully without inspection from receiving asylum. This new border regime violates the United States' obligations under the 1967 Protocol to not refoul refugees to unsafe countries and not punish refugees for unlawful entrance.
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Nov12
Towards a Less Arbitrary Unequal: Designating Last Habitual Residence in Stateless Asylum Claims in the U.S.
United States, November 12, 2018
The consistent reference approach to CFHR is a more balanced way to adjudicate stateless applicants. The consistent approach may also aid in keeping well-founded fear and protection inquiries separate.
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Oct19
Climate change and international refugee law: A predicament approach
October 19, 2018
October 19, 2018 Lauren Nishimura RefLaw, Editorial Advisory Panel Oxford University, Doctoral Candidate Climate change is a reality, producing both extreme weather events like cyclones and storms and slower processes...
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Sep28
The Government’s Role in Domestic Violence: A different take on nexus formation
September 28, 2018
The United State’s current asylum framework protects those who are persecuted because of their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. Should it extend to those who are denied state protection on those grounds?
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Sep21
The Plight of the Rohingya
Myanmar, September 21, 2018
The international community cannot assume that Myanmar will uphold its responsibility to this stateless ethnic group. In light of the Myanmar Government’s historical persecution and recent ethnic cleansing campaign of Rohingya people, the Rohingya are de facto refugees under the UNHCR mandate and require ongoing international protection.
Read More“Regional Disembarkation Platforms” and “Controlled Centres”: Lifting The Drawbridge, Reaching out Across The Mediterranean, or Going Nowhere?
European Union, September 14, 2018
Assuming that the EU and the EUMS are committed to respecting international and EU law, and that they don’t plan to upend the institutional structure of the CEAS by establishing common processing centres offshore, no “game changers” are within easy reach. As shown, Regional Disembarkation Platforms (RDPs) are highly unlikely to add anything of substance to the EU’s already extensive “externalization toolbox.” Controlled Centres (CCs) in EUMS, for their part, are unlikely to ever take off absent predictable solidarity arrangements (as opposed to: fuzzy solidarity promises). This supposed exit from Europe’s solidarity conundrum leads, in fact, back around to it.
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