Homosexuality and Refugee Status in the United Kingdom

2001 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek McGhee
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Social Group ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Institutional Practices ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
The Social ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
Definition Of

In this paper the legal institutional practices whereby refugee statuses are determined is subjected to examination through the vehicle of cases where homosexuality has been the basis of the application for refugee status. What emerges in this article is a narrative of homosexuals being excluded from and eventually included in refugee status in the United Kingdom. This narrative is played out within the discursive context of a particular definition of refugee status, namely, that of being a member of a persecuted social group. It is through the analysis of refugee case law in the United Kingdom and internationally that homosexuality is presented, as providing specific problems for refugee law in terms of whom, and in what circumstances, should be included in the ‘social group’ category. In this paper it will be demonstrated that homosexual cases are significant in relation to the attempt to overcome ‘exclusive definitions’ of ‘persecuted social groups’ in refugee law. This is evident, most particularly in terms of the increasing connection between International Refugee Law and International Human Rights Law in the consideration of the persecution experienced by homosexuals in the cases analysed in the paper.

27. International refugee law

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Edwards
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
International Human Rights ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
International Human ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter first explains the purpose and scope of international refugee law. It then identifies the five fundamental elements of the Refugee Convention, and discusses other important parameters of international refugee law more broadly. The chapter explores the relationship between international refugee law and human rights law at the macro-level. It analyses specific aspects of refugee law—namely, the definition of a refugee, the prohibition of refoulement, refugee rights, and the ending of refugee status and solutions—and analyses how international human rights law informs them.

COUNTERING “FOREIGN TERRORIST FIGHTERS”: A CRITICAL APPRAISAL OF THE FRAMEWORK ESTABLISHED BY THE UN SECURITY COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS

2016 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 227-250
Author(s):  
Francesca Capone
Keyword(s):  
Security Council ◽  
Armed Conflicts ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Un Security Council ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Terrorist Acts

Terrorism constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security. The newest challenge posed by this threat is represented by the phenomenon of “foreign terrorist fighters”. Current estimates place the number of foreigners who have joined the ongoing armed conflicts in the Middle East between 20,000 and 30,000. How many of these foreign fighters also fall within the definition of foreign terrorist fighters (i.e. those travelling abroad with a “terrorist” intent) provided by UN Security Council Resolution 2178 (2014) is very difficult to assess. In primis because the resolution refers to “terrorists”, “terrorist acts”, and “terrorist training” without actually defining “terrorism” and thus leaving to each Member State the task to determine the breadth and the contours of this concept. Secondly because the text lacks legal certainty with regard to many other crucial aspects, e.g., the relationship between counter-terrorism and international humanitarian law, the interpretation of the term “State of residence”, and the risk of abuse of refugee status. These shortcomings not only jeopardize the ability to implement a uniform approach, but they also increase the likelihood of fostering abusive responses. This article argues that Resolution 2178 has not been adopted in a legal vacuum, on the contrary it extensively builds on the anti-terrorism framework established by previous Security Council resolutions and thus it inherits and exacerbates many old and unresolved issues. Ultimately, the present article seeks to determine to what degree the new set of binding obligations placed upon Member States to thwart the phenomenon of foreign terrorist fighters is effective and it discusses the extent to which it could enhance or hinder counter-terrorism’s compliance with international human rights law, international humanitarian law and international refugee law.

Finding Agency in Adversity: Applying the Refugee Convention in the Context of Disasters and Climate Change

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 26-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Scott
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Refugee Status ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
The Social ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
Critical Aspects ◽  
Social Paradigm

This article argues that, as individuals are already applying for refugee status in the context of disasters and climate change, a robust understanding of why disasters happen and how different groups are affected, combined with a principled methodology for determining such claims, are critical aspects of the anxious scrutiny that each claim should receive. The limitations of the “hazards” paradigm, which is shown to be dominant in international refugee law, are highlighted. Adopting the “social” paradigm developed within the field of disaster risk reduction, the argument is advanced that an understanding of disasters as social phenomena within which existing patterns of discrimination contribute to differential impacts, provides a sharper lens with which to consider eligibility for refugee status. The article argues that recent case-law from the New Zealand Immigration and Protection Tribunal reflects an awareness of the social paradigm, and the methodology for determining such claims is described and largely endorsed. It concludes by identifying sources of country of origin information that can help to address some of the evidentiary challenges claimants may face, and argues that the risk assessment under refugee law is more generous than the “immediacy” requirement identified by the New Zealand Immigration and Protection Tribunal in relation to complementary protection claims.

scholarly journals Safe Places and Unsafe Places:Geography and the 1996 Asylum and Immigration Act in the United Kingdom

Refuge ◽  
1998 ◽  
pp. 5-11
Author(s):  
Allen White
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
National Identities ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
Asylum Law ◽  
Moral Landscape ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
International Refugee Regime

Over the last decade and a half the international refugee régime, as enshrined by the 1951 Convention and 1967 Protocol has come under sustained attack in western states. This is because of implicit assumptions about the universalism of the refugee identity and the rootedness of national identities by the framers, drafters and subsequent commentators on international refugee law (see Malkki 1992, and Hyndman 1998). Critical approaches to international refugee law have sufered from underdeveloped ideas about space and about the relationship between geography and law. In this paper I point to geographical and geopolitical assumptions and thinking that lies behind the passage and enforcement of accelerated asylum determination and appeal procedures in the United Kingdom. I conclude by suggesting how the moral landscape of refugee and asylum law might be re-oriented to stress connections between the United Kingdom and persecuted and oppressed peoples rather than stress the protection of the UK's boundaries.

EU Non-Refoulement: (The Irrelevance of) Territoriality and Pre-Border Controls

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Violeta Moreno-Lax
Keyword(s):  
International Human Rights Law ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
Human Rights Law ◽  
Refugee Law ◽  
Functional Understanding ◽  
Scope Of Application ◽  
International Refugee Law ◽  
Border Controls ◽  
The Eu

This chapter identifies the content and scope of application of the EU prohibition of refoulement. Following the ‘cumulative standards’ approach, the analysis incorporates developments in international human rights law (IHRL) and international refugee law (IRL). Taking account of the prominent role of the ECHR and the Refugee Convention (CSR51) as sources of Article 19 CFR, these are the two main instruments taken in consideration. The scope of application of Articles 33 CSR51 and 3 ECHR will be identified in turns. Autonomous requirements of EU law will be determined by reference to the asylum acquis as interpreted by the CJEU. The main focus will be on the establishment of the territorial reach of EU non-refoulement. The idea that it may be territorially confined will be rejected. Drawing on the ‘Fransson paradigm’, a ‘functional’ understanding of the ‘implementation of EU law’ standard under Article 51 CFR will be put forward, as the decisive factor to determine applicability of Charter provisions. The implications of non-refoulement for the different measures of extraterritorial control considered in Part I will be delineated at the end.

The Social Relations of Business Representation and Devolved Governance in the United Kingdom

2003 ◽  
Vol 35 (10) ◽  
pp. 1853-1876 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Raco
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Cooperative Networks ◽  
Regional Governance ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Business Interests ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Social ◽  
Policymaking And Implementation ◽  
And Performance

The reform of regional governance in the United Kingdom has been, in part, premised on the notion that regions provide new territories of action in which cooperative networks between business communities and state agencies can be established. Promoting business interests is seen as one mechanism for enhancing the economic competitiveness and performance of ‘laggard’ regions. Yet, within this context of change, business agendas and capacities are often assumed to exist ‘out there’, as a resource waiting to be tapped by state institutions. There is little recognition that business organisations' involvement in networks of governance owes much to historical patterns and practices of business representation, to the types of activities that exist within the business sector, and to interpretations of their own role and position within wider policymaking and implementation networks. This paper, drawing on a study of business agendas in post-devolution Scotland, demonstrates that in practice business agendas are highly complex. Their formation in any particular place depends on the actions of reflexive agents, whose perspectives and capacities are shaped by the social, economic, and political contexts within which they are operating. As such, any understanding of business agendas needs to identify the social relations of business as a whole, rather than assuming away such complexities.

Reconfiguring professional autonomy? The case of social work in the UK

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Chandler ◽  
Elisabeth Berg ◽  
Marion Ellison ◽  
Jim Barry
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Professional Autonomy ◽  
The Third ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Uk

This chapter discusses the contemporary position of social work in the United Kingdom, and in particular the challenges to what is seen as a managerial-technicist version of social work. The chapter begins with focus on the situation from the 1990s to the present day in which this version of social work takes root and flourishes. The discussion then concentrates on three different routes away from a managerial-technicist social work: the first, reconfiguring professional practice in the direction of evaluation in practice, the second ‘reclaiming social work’ on the Hackney relationship-based model and the third ‘reclaiming social work’ in a more radical, highly politicised way. Special attention is devoted to a discussion about how much autonomy the social workers have in different models, but also what kind of autonomy and for what purpose.

scholarly journals Ethiopian and Eritrean Immigrants in Britain

2015 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-119 ◽  
Author(s):  
John R. Campbell ◽  
Solomon Afework
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Country Of Origin ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Policy Context ◽  
Immigrant Settlement ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Refugee Community ◽  
The Social ◽  
Key Aspects

This paper explores key aspects of the immigrant experience of 50,000-plus Ethiopians and Eritreans who live in the United Kingdom. We seek to understand the extent to which immigrant life in the UK has acted ‘as a kind of pivot’ between integrating in their country of settlement and enduring forms of connection with their country of origin. This question is explored by an examination of immigrant organising in the UK – in Refugee Community Organisations – and through interviews about their life in the UK and evolving ideas about self-identity. We argue for an open-ended approach to understand immigrants which sidesteps assumptions about forms of collective identity and which asks how the social and policy context has affected immigrant settlement and integration in the UK.

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