In international law, asylum is defined as a state’s protection of a foreign citizen against his home state. The person granted asylum has no legal right to ask for it, and the sheltering state is under no legal obligation to provide it. To be awarded asylum, a person must show that he or she is a “refugee,” that they are not precluded from seeking asylum for any of the grounds mentioned in our immigration rules, and that the decision-maker should grant asylum on a discretionary basis.
Asylum rights are divided into three types: territorial, extraterritorial, and neutral. Territorial asylum is an exception to the practise of extradition and is granted within the territorial borders of the state giving asylum. It was created and is largely used to shield people accused of political crimes like treason, desertion, sedition, and espionage. Persons accused of assassinating a head of state, certain terrorist acts, participation with the enemy in times of conflict, crimes against peace and against humanity, and war crimes have all been excluded from this category. Extraterritorial asylum refers to asylum granted in foreign embassies, legations, consulates, warships, and merchant vessels, and is thus provided within the borders of the state seeking protection. Extraterritorial asylum granted in embassies, legations, or consulates (often referred to as diplomatic asylum) is frequently contested. For example, following a failed rebellion against Hungary’s communist government in 1956, the United States offered disputed diplomatic shelter to dissident Hungarian Roman Catholic József Cardinal Mindszenty, who stayed in the US embassy for 15 years. Neutral asylum is a term used by states exercising neutrality during a conflict to grant troops from belligerent states shelter on their territory in exchange for imprisonment for the duration of the war.

It is a state’s right to provide asylum to a person, but it is not a person’s right to be granted asylum by a state. This viewpoint is mirrored in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which, although acknowledging the right “to seek and enjoy sanctuary from persecution in other countries” (article 14), does not specifically grant a right of asylum. Shelter seekers would have had additional protection under the previous form of that article, which related to the individual’s right “to seek and be granted asylum from persecution.” Similarly, while the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, which was adopted by the United Nations (UN) Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Status of Refugees and Stateless Persons in 1951, recognised that “the grant of asylum may impose unduly heavy burdens on certain countries,” it did not create a right of asylum for those seeking it, and the impressive array of rights it enumerates pertains to those seeking it. The UN General Assembly Declaration on Territorial Asylum (1967), which contained substantive exceptions to its non-refoulement (non-return) provision (pertaining to national security and the safeguarding of its national population), and (2) a proposed Convention on Territorial Asylum, which never materialised, were both unsuccessful attempts to articulate an individual’s right to asylum.

The so-called “material support bar” is one of the asylum barriers. Human Rights First is a proponent of a more acceptable version of the asylum bar. See our report for more information.
Some people seeking refuge will have their cases decided by the Asylum Office, while others will go to the Immigration Court. Human Rights First works on cases at all levels of the system, and the criterion for asylum is the same in all places.

Form I-589 is used to petition for asylum. That asylum application can also include a request for two related alternative types of relief, both of which provide fewer benefits: withholding of removal under the INA’s section 241(b)(3) and protection under the UN Convention Against Torture.

Aishwarya Says:

I have always been against Glorifying Over Work and therefore, in the year 2021, I have decided to launch this campaign “Balancing Life”and talk about this wrong practice, that we have been following since last few years. I will be talking to and interviewing around 1 lakh people in the coming 2021 and publish their interview regarding their opinion on glamourising Over Work.

If you are interested in participating in the same, do let me know.

Do follow me on Facebook, Twitter  Youtube and Instagram.

The copyright of this Article belongs exclusively to Ms. Aishwarya Sandeep. Reproduction of the same, without permission will amount to Copyright Infringement. Appropriate Legal Action under the Indian Laws will be taken.

If you would also like to contribute to my website, then do share your articles or poems at adv.aishwaryasandeep@gmail.com

We also have a Facebook Group Restarter Moms for Mothers or Women who would like to rejoin their careers post a career break or women who are enterpreneurs.

We are also running a series Inspirational Women from January 2021 to March 31,2021, featuring around 1000 stories about Indian Women, who changed the world. #choosetochallenge