Exclusion From Protection in Asylum Law

Academic Paper from the year 2018 in the subject Law - European and International Law, Intellectual Properties, University of Malta, course: M.A. European Politics, Economics and Law, language: English, abstract: The present work takes a closer look at the rare case of exclusion in asylum law. This article will analyse into detail which crimes and acts are taken in consideration. First, it will give an introduction of the legal framework of exclusion. In the second part it will analyse in depth the steps of the exclusion assessment, referring to experts such as EASO and the UNHCR. The article will conclude with a summary of the findings.

Exclusion is a rare circumstance in the asylum procedure. The criteria to establish inclusion exactly like exclusion are set out in the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, from now on 1951 Refugee Convention. An asylum seeker who applied for international protection will go through an assessment done by an authority establishing whether he or she is entitled for international protection. If the person is entitled to protection according to the refugee definition stated in the 1951 Refugee Convention the person will be included. Being included means that the person needs protection because he or she has been forced to flee his or her country because of persecution, a refugee has a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, political opinion or membership in a particular social group. Being included is also a prerogative for exclusion, a person cannot be excluded if he or she is first not included. The principle of exclusion is that the person who applied for asylum does not deserve protection. The aim of the 1951 Refugee Convention is to protect potential victims, not to protest criminals, therefore it does not have to be misused.

The reason for not deserving protection can be mainly three. The first case is when the person is already beneficiary of protection, because he or she receives assistance from organs or agencies of the United Nations. The second scenario is when the person is recognised by the competent authorities of the country in which he or she has taken residence as having the same rights and obligations of the citizen in possession of the nationality of that country. The third and maybe most controversial scenario is when the person claiming asylum is responsible of a crime or an act so serious that the person is not considered to deserve protection.