|
6. National Protection of Refugees
As we saw earlier, according to the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, "Everyone has the right to seek
and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution".
However, we also noted that no treaty obliges states to grant
asylum. At the most, the 1951 Refugee Convention can tell states:
How to define a refugee (Article 1A(2)) What rights a Convention refugee should
expect in a receiving country When a state cannot return a refugee home
(principle of nonrefoulement)
The 1951 Refugee Convention does not force a
state to admit a refugee, i.e. to grant asylum. It is clear that
there is a gap here between the individual’s right to seek asylum
and the state’s discretion in providing it.
As a result of this ambiguous state of
affairs, state practice in granting asylum varies widely, both in
terms of the procedure they use for determining refugee status and
the actual legislation that is applied.
1.2 million asylum seekers
in 2000
| |
|
|
| COUNTRY
OF ASYLUM |
ASYLUM
APPLICATIONS |
MAIN
COUNTRIES OF ORIGIN |
| Germany
[1] |
95,110 |
Yugoslavia
/ Turkey / Iraq / Afghanistan / Iran / Azerbaijan / Viet Nam
/ Armenia / Syria / Russian Federation / Bosnia-Herzegovina
/ Pakistan / India |
| United
Kingdom [2] |
71,150 |
Yugoslavia
/ Somalia / Sri Lanka / Russian Federation / Afghanistan /
Turkey / China / Pakistan / Romania / Poland / Iraq |
| Switzerland |
46,070 |
Yugoslavia
/ Iraq / Bosnia-Herzegovina |
| Netherlands |
39,300 |
Afghanistan
/ Iraq / Yugoslavia / Somalia / Azerbaijan / Sudan / Angola
/ Iran |
| Belgium |
35,780 |
Yugoslavia
/ Romania |
| Italy |
33,360 |
Yugoslavia
/ Iraq |
| United
States [1] & [3] |
31,740 |
China
/ Guatemala / El Salvador / Mexico / Haiti / Somalia / India
/ Indonesia |
| France |
30,910 |
China
/ Yugoslavia / DRC / Turkey / Sri Lanka / Mali |
| Canada |
29,390 |
Sri
Lanka / China / Pakistan / Hungary |
| Austria |
20,100 |
Yugoslavia
/ Iran / Afghanistan / Iraq |
| [1]
Excluding applications which have been
"re-opened". |
[2]
Figures concern number of applications. On average, there
are some 1.3 persons per asylum application. |
[3]
Figures concern number of applications. On average there are
some 1.45 persons per application. |
previous | next
|
|
The Rights of Refugees and Displaced Persons
Table source: Refugees by Numbers, UNHCR,
2000 Edition
|
