Today is

By: Ikedi Ani-okoye.

Asylum Law

Asylum law is not refugee law; asylum law concerns the right of asylum as opposed to refugee law, which concerns huge group of people coming into a country. Most often, the seekers of asylum, or protection, are often considered rebels or dissidents in their own countries and are not safe, so they migrate to a different country that offers them protection. However, the two do sometimes overlap, as a refugee may demand to be treated as an asylum case, and is sometimes granted that right.

Asylum application consideration

Have you left your country because you were afraid for your life? Did you, or do you want to, come to the United States hoping for the promise of a better life, and the safety & protection that U.S. laws give to its citizens? You may be allowed to remain in the United States based on asylum. The concept of asylum is embedded in both U.S. law and international law; it is based on the idea that a country will not force a citizen of another country to return when that person can prove that he or she has suffered past persecution (see below) and/or has a well-founded fear of future persecution based on one of five grounds or a combination of grounds:

• Race
• Religion
• Nationality
• Membership in a particular social group
• Political opinion

Definitions of Asylum Seekers and Refugees

An asylum seeker is a person who has applied for asylum in the UK and is awaiting a final decision on their claim from the Immigration & Nationality Department of the Home Office.

What is asylum? Legal protection granted by one country to someone fleeing persecution from another country. Anyone has the right to seek sanctuary in another country if they are suffering persecution in their home country. When claiming asylum the government looks at the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees.

CONCLUSION

"The end of the 20th Century has not brought an end to the bloodshed and persecution that force people to run for their lives. Tens of millions of people have ushered in the new millennium in refugee camps and at other temporary shelters, afraid that they will be killed if they dare to return to their homes."-Bill Frelick, U.S. Committee for Refugees.