Refugee Convention

Asylum seekers from El Salvador and Honduras sit outside the El Chaparral border crossing on February 19, 2021 in Tijuana, Mexico. They wear face masks with the exception of the toddler, who appears to be too young for a face mask.

Asylum and the Three Little Words that Can Spell Life or Death

The U.S. Board of Immigration Appeals defines “particular social group” in a way that practically ensures the denial of asylum claims, especially for Central Americans. The…

May 28, 2021 Stephen Legomsky and Karen Musalo

Syrian refugees watch from their window as others get tested for the covid-19, during a testing campaign organised by Lebanon's health ministry and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the southern city of Sidon, on May 28, 2020.

Big Shoulders — How the US Can Remedy Its Failures on Refugee Admissions

Despite its size and wealth, America consistently fails to do its part in upholding the terms of an international convention it helped create.

May 10, 2021 Lindsey Greising and Lisa Borden

An Indian policeman registers the names of Rohingya refugees after they were detained while crossing the India-Bangladesh fenced border from Bangladesh, at Raimura village on the outskirts of Agartala, the capital of the northeastern state of Tripura, on January 22, 2019.

Indian Supreme Court’s Stance on the Deportation of Rohingya Refugees Violates International Law

The Indian Supreme Court’s refusal to implement its international law obligations has dented the hopes of thousands of Rohingyas who continue to seek refuge in India.

Apr. 27, 2021 Arunav Kaul

Activists stand at the entry gate to the Krome Service Processing Center as they honor the life of Kuan Hui Lee, who died in the custody of ICE at the Krome Service Processing Center. One sign reads, “Free them all.” They wear facemasks. August 15, 2020 in Miami, Florida

COVID-19 and International Law Series: States’ Obligations to Refugees and Migrants in Detention

Whether informally quarantined in camps or formally confined in overcrowded detention centers, refugees and migrants in detention are extraordinarily vulnerable in a pandemic.…

Dec. 2, 2020 Oona A. Hathaway, Preston Lim and 1 more

Refugees are seen protesting in the wake of the burning down of Camp Moria on September 11, 2020 in Kara Tepe, Greece. A number of the protesters are small children. All protestors wear face masks. Signs read, “We want freedom” and “No Moria.”

COVID-19 and International Law: Refugee Law – The Principle of Non-Refoulement

[Editor’s Note: This article is part of a Just Security series, COVID and International Law. All articles in the series can be found here.] The threat posed by COVID-19 has…

Nov. 30, 2020 Oona A. Hathaway, Mark Stevens and 1 more

Asylum seekers in life rafts on the Aegean Sea

Torture by Rescue: Asylum-Seeker Pushbacks in the Aegean

Since at least March, Greece has been systematically returning asylum seekers who have arrived on its shores – who have the right to adjudication of their asylum claims – to…

Oct. 26, 2020 Itamar Mann and Niamh Keady-Tabbal

A facility believed to be a re-education camp where mostly Muslim ethnic minorities are detained, north of Akto in China's northwestern Xinjiang region.

Policy Options in Response to Crimes Against Humanity and Potential Genocide in Xinjiang

The international community can unite in myriad ways to end the stunningly sweeping abuses China is committing against Uyghurs.

Aug. 25, 2020 Beth Van Schaack

Arid ground in Mongolia, Zavkhan province.

The Trump Administration’s Indefensible Legal Defense of Its Asylum Ban

"The Trump administration has finally made public its legal justification for its decision to halt asylum processing during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it is embarrassingly bad.…

May 15, 2020 Oona A. Hathaway

An asylum seeker staying at the Juventud 2000 migrant shelter in Tijuana, Baja California State, Mexico, sweeps the floor on April 3, 2020. Camping tents are pitched in rows.

Coronavirus Border Expulsions: CDC’s Assault on Asylum Seekers and Unaccompanied Minors

Relying on obscure 1944 provision that provides no such authority, CDC tries to block all asylum seekers and unaccompanied minors in violation of congressional statutes, writes…

Apr. 13, 2020 Lucas Guttentag

Protestors led by a coalition of interfaith religious leaders demonstrate against US immigration policy that separates parents from their children, June 23, 2018 outside the Otay Mesa Detention Center in San Diego, California. A sign reads, “Stop caging families,” and many protestors wear shirts reading, “& Vote.”

Fear and Loathing on the Border: A First-Hand Look at the Travesty

Far from the loophole-ridden sieve described by the administration, the asylum system we saw was a Kafka-esque labyrinth designed to punish migrants who dare to exercise their…

Sep. 13, 2019 Ambassador Donald Steinberg

Blocking or Aiding Asylum Seekers? The U.S.-Canada “Safe Third Country” Agreement and Examples from Europe

The Trump administration's new asylum regulation attempts an end run around the statutory requirements of an actual “Safe Third Country” agreement. Here's how such an agreement…

Jul. 16, 2019 Susan Gzesh

A caravan of more than 1,500 Honduran migrants moves north after crossing the border from Honduras into Guatemala on October 15, 2018 in Esquipulas, Guatemala.

“Safe Third Country” Agreements with Mexico and Guatemala would be Unlawful

The Trump Administration is seeking "safe third country" agreements with Mexico and Guatemala to keep Central American asylum seekers from reaching the country - they can't meet…

Jul. 15, 2019 Susan Gzesh