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Asylum System (asylum + system)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	100%

Selected Abstracts

The European Union after 9/11: The Demise of a Liberal Democratic Asylum Regime?

GOVERNMENT AND OPPOSITION, Issue 1 2005
Carl Levy
This article examines the domestic and international pressures since 11 September 2001 on the liberal democratic asylum regime practised within the European Union. It looks at three areas of confrontation. The pressures exerted upon national governments by anti-immigrant and anti-asylum seeker/refugee far right populist parties. It examines the attempts by the European Union and its member states to arrive at a Common European Asylum System in light of policy developments over the past 20 years, and places these long-standing processes within the events of 11 September 2001. It discusses whether or not the liberal democratic tradition of asylum embodied in the Geneva Convention of 1951 been sacrificed to the dual pressures of the electoral victories of the far right in Europe and a new form of terrorism that threatens European societies. [source]

Aid, Relief, and Containment: The First Asylum Country and Beyond

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 5 2002
B.S. Chimni
A fundamental problem that confronts the European Union today is how it can maintain its commitment to the institution of asylum while checking irregular migration and the abuse of its asylum system. In order to explore a response to this dilemma the paper addresses the following questions: what role can relief and aid policies play in influencing migration patterns? What should be the appropriate approach to the granting of relief and aid to developing countries of first asylum? Should it be viewed as a part of the larger problem of development or be treated as a distinct issue? What kind of a relief/aid model will help refugees return to post,conflict societies and stop the conflict from reproducing itself? The paper examines two different approaches to address these questions: the alliance,containment approach and the distributive,developmental approach. It also looks at some empirical evidence, which reveals that at present it is a conservative alliance,containment approach that informs EU relief and aid practices. This approach, however, does not help achieve the stated objective of checking abuse of asylum and migration procedures while sustaining a commitment to a liberal asylum regime. The paper goes on to identify the gaps in EU policy and the lessons that can be drawn. It concludes by looking at different policy alternatives and suggesting the adoption of a reformist distributive,developmental model. The implementation of this model holds out the hope of reverting to a more liberal asylum regime while controlling irregular migration and "bogus" asylum seekers, for the reformist distributive developmental model takes a more long,term view of migration trends and also seeks to address the growing North,South divide. [source]

,No one gives you a chance to say what you are thinking': finding space for children's agency in the UK asylum system

AREA, Issue 2 2010
Heaven Crawley
Drawing on research undertaken with separated children seeking asylum in the UK, this paper explores the ways in which children's political identities and experiences have been conceptualised in procedures for determining who is , and is not , in need of protection under international refugee law. The paper focuses in particular on the experiences of separated children during the asylum interview. It is suggested that the conduct of the interview not only indicates a basic lack of humanity and care in engaging with the experiences of separated asylum-seeking children, but also a particular conceptualisation of ,childhood' that undermines the ability of children to fully articulate their experiences and to secure access to the protection to which they are entitled. The consequence of this approach is not only that separated asylum-seeking children are significantly less likely than adults to be granted refugee status, but that children who express political views and agency may not be considered to be children at all. [source]

The Politics of Childhood and Asylum in the UK

CHILDREN & SOCIETY, Issue 4 2007
Clotilde Giner
This article considers the general treatment of asylum-seeking families with children in the UK, focusing on the government's practices and public reactions to these measures. It first describes both the exclusive asylum framework, based on institutionalised suspicion, welfare restrictions and detention, and the inclusive child policy framework, based on recognising children's rights and protecting all children. The article then investigates the implications for policy-making that these radically opposed regimes have for those who fall between the two categories, i.e. asylum-seeking children. To this end, we examine more closely three asylum practices , Section 9 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants, etc.) Act 2004, detention of accompanied asylum-seeking children in immigration removal centres and removals. Our analysis indicates that the government's attempt to fully include families within the restrictive asylum framework has been somewhat frustrated by the mobilisation of a wide range of public actors. As such, despite its supposedly ,legally unconstrained' room for action, the government has recently agreed to partly review its policy standards for asylum-seeking families, apparently aware of the potentially damaging effects of being seen as disregarding children's rights and needs. On the other hand, the government does not seem inclined to question the current asylum framework and the assumptions on which it is based. Consequently, the asylum system for families is likely to remain based on ad hocarrangements conditioned by the scale of the protests. [source]

Averting Forced Migration in Countries in Transition

INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION, Issue 3 2002
Susan Martin
Many countries of emigration are in transition from conflict to peace and from authoritarian to democratic governments. Addressing population movements from these countries requires more than economic opportunities; equally important is the establishment of the rule of law, respect for human rights, and, in countries recovering from conflict, reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure and housing. Otherwise, fragile peace and democratization processes can easily break down, creating new waves of forced migrants and hampering efforts towards repatriation and reintegration of already displaced populations. This background paper discusses the nature of forced migration, pointing out that the end of the Cold War has produced new pressures and new opportunities to address these flows. While extremism, particularly rampant nationalism, has provoked massive forced migration in many parts of the world, the changing geopolitical relations has also led to peace settlements in some countries and humanitarian intervention to reduce suffering in others. Addressing forced migration pressures in countries in transition requires comprehensive policy approaches. Four types of best practices are considered in this paper. First, mechanisms to ameliorate the causes of forced movements, including the role that expatriate communities can play in strengthening the rule of law and respect for human rights, particularly minority rights. Second, mechanisms that enhance refugee protection while minimizing abuses of asylum systems, including enhanced respect for the refugee convention, adoption of complementary forms of protection when the refugee convention does not apply, strengthened regional protection, and the establishment of in,country processing of refugee claims. Third, mechanisms to resolve the longer,term status of forced migrants, including decisions on when to cease refugee status and temporary protection and encourage/permit return or integration. Fourth, mechanisms for more effective repatriation when return is possible, particularly programs to help returnees reintegrate and communities reconstruct themselves. [source]