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Who dey qualified to claim asylum for UK

UK home secretary Suella Braverman

Tue, 26 Sep 2023 Source: BBC

Question around refugee protection and asylum for UK dey come up afta UK home secretary Suella Braverman say fearing discrimination for being gay or a woman no suppose dey enough to qualify for international refugee protection.

Addressing one US think tank on Tuesday, Suella Braverman question weda di application of di UN 1951 Refugee Convention dey "fit for our modern age".

Laws don change from helping those wey dey run from persecution to those wey dey fear bias, she argue.

Labour don accuse her say she don "give up on fixing" di asylum system.

"Now she dey do grandstanding abroad and dey look for anyone else to blame," na so shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper tok.

She accuse di home secretary of using gay people and women as "scapegoats" rather dan "recognising her responsibility to handle di asylum system".

For di middle of dis mata na di Refugee Convention wey dem write afta World War Two and di koko of dis document na say make refugees no dey returned to kontries wia dem dey face threats to dia life or freedom.

Di home secretary tok for di right-wing American Enterprise Institute (AEI) for Washington DC say "we dey live now in a completely different time" from wen dem sign d convention.

She say: "As case law don develop, wetin we don see in practice na interpretive shift away from 'persecution', in favour of something more like a definition of 'discrimination'.

"Di practical consequence wey be say e don expand di number of those wey fit qualify for asylum, and to lower di threshold for doing so."

Di definition grant di right for at least 780 million pipo worldwide to move to anoda kontri, according to di Margaret Thatcher-founded think tank, di Centre for Policy Studies.

According to UN, di total number of refugees worldwide dey much lower, with 35 million pipo wey dey registered as refugees for 2022.

On Tuesday morning, Police Minister Chris Philp tell BBC say di convention dey exploited by "economic migrants to try and claim asylum to move between kontries".

For her speech Ms Braverman say: "Let me be clear, plenti places for di world wia e dey extremely difficult to be gay, or to be a woman. Wia dem dey persecute individuals, e dey right say make we offer sanctuary.

"But we no go dey able to sustain asylum system, if simply being gay, or a woman, and fearful of discrimination for your kontri of origin dey enough to qualify for protection.

64 kontries na im dey wey get laws wey criminalise homosexuality, nearly half of dem dey for Africa.

Wetin be di Refugee Convention?

Di Convention come to life for 1951 and na three years later dem start to enforce am afta millions run comot dia homes all through Europe sake of World War Two.

At first na to focus on di refugees of war from Europe but for 1967, dem write amendment wey comot di limit for just Europe and make am worldwide.

Di Convention define wetin refugee mean, how dem suppose treat dem, and tok say make dem no punish any refugee say dem go against immigration law as dem dey run.

Di koko of di document na "non-refoulement". Wetin e mean be say, make dem no return refurgee against dia will if dem dey fear for dia life or dia freedom.

Na almost 150 kontris sign di Convention and now e dey seen as di foundation of di international asylum system.

Wetin come be di qualification for refugee inside UK

According to di Home Office website, to dey eligible to stay for di UK as refugee, e need to be say you don comot your kontri sake of say no part of dat kontri dey safe for you to stay.

Di persecution need to be because of either your race, religion, nationality, political opinion and anything else wey fit put you at risk sake of di social, cultural, religious and political situation for your kontri.

But UK fit no consider di mata for refugee if di applicant dey come from EU kontri or don enta safe third kontri before dem enta UK or get connection with safe third kontri wey you fit seek asylum.

Third kontri mean say di place wey you no be citizen, wey dem no go harm you or carry you go anoda kontri wey dem go fit harm you.

Wetin be di qualification for refugee for oda kontris like Canada

Canada refugee claims dey go through Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) wey be independent tribunal wey go look di claim.

Pesin fit run di refugee waka for port of entry and factors wey fit affect di clain na if pesin don commit serious crime, make previous claim for Canada, make claim with kontri wey Canada dey share immigration information or if pesin get protection from anoda kontri.

Dem dey collect two type refugee wey be convention refugee from di Refugee Convention document and pesin wey dey in need of protection.

Pesin wey dey in need of protection na pesin wey dey Canada and no fit go back house sake of say, dem dey in dancger of toture, risk of di life or risk of cruel and unusual punishment.

Source: BBC