Migration of Asylum Seekers and the Freedom of Religion or Belief: The Dual Nature of Religious Freedom as a Challenge

Dalibor Đukić

doi:10.47078/2024.1.95-111

Dalibor Đukić Associate Professor, University of Belgrade Faculty of Law https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1447-7128

DOI: https://doi.org/10.47078/2024.1.95-111

Keywords: freedom of religion, migrants, refugees, asylum seekers, forum internum, forum externum

Abstract

This study examines the international and European legal frameworks that protect the rights of asylum seekers who have fled their home countries because of religious persecution. Divided into four main sections, the paper begins by delving into the sources of international law that uphold religious freedom. The second section identifies the specific conditions under which refugee status can be granted based on religious persecution. In the subsequent section of the paper, the focus shifts to scrutinising whether acts of persecution encompass both the internal and external dimensions of religious freedom, as demonstrated through the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights. Notwithstanding the practice of competent asylum authorities and national courts, which reject asylum applications under the assumption that protection should be limited to the internal dimension of religious freedom, this study advocates the need for a comprehensive examination of religion-based asylum claims, considering both dimensions of religious freedom. This stance is rooted in the hypothesis that the distinction between internal and external dimensions of religious freedom should have no practical value for the assessment of the persecution based on religious or belief affiliations or worldviews of asylum seekers.

References

Berger, P. (1990) The Sacred Canopy: Elements of a Sociological Theory of Religion. New York: Anchor Books.

Bielefeldt, H., Ghanea N., Wiener M. (2016) Freedom of Religion or Belief: An International Law Commentary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, https://doi.org/10.1093/law/9780198703983.001.0001.

Bielefeldt., H., Wiener, M. (2021) Declaration on the Elimination of All Forms of Intolerance and Discrimination based on Religion or Belief [Online]. Available at: https://legal.un.org/avl/ha/ga_36-55/ga_36-55.html (Accessed: 30 June 2023).

Bowcott, O. (2014) ‘Atheist Afghan granted religious asylum in UK’, The Guardian, 14 January 2014. [Online]. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/14/afghan-atheist-uk-asylum (Accessed: 27 June 2023).

Chetail, V. (2019) International Migration Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

ECHR (2022) Derogation in time of emergency [Online]. Available at: https://www.echr.coe.int/documents/d/echr/FS_Derogation_ENG (Accessed: 24 July 2023).

Durham, W. C., Scharffs, B. G. (2019) Law and Religion: National, International, and Comparative Perspectives, Second Edition. 2nd edn. New York: Wolters Kluwer.

Evans, M. D. (1997) Religious Liberty and International Law in Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511599378.

Evans, M. D. (2004) ‘Historical Analysis of Freedom of Religion or Belief as a Technique for Resolving Religious Conflict’ in Lindholm, T., Durham, W. C., Tahzib-Lie, Jr. B. G. (eds.) Facilitating Freedom of Religion or Belief: A Deskbook. Leiden, the Netherlands: Martinus Nijhoff, pp. 1–17; https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-5616-7_1.

Gibbon, E. (2008) History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (first published 1776). Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library.

Glanville, M. R. (2022¬) ‘A Biblical ethic of kinship for people on the move’, International Journal for Religious Freedom (IJRF), 15(1/2), pp. 9–23.

Hirschon, R. (2008) Crossing the Aegean: An Appraisal of the 1923 Compulsory Population Exchange between Greece and Turkey. Brooklyn NY: Berghahn Books.

Kagan, M. (2010) ‘Refugee Credibility Assessment and the “Religious Imposter” Problem: A Case Study of Eritrean Pentecostal Claims in Egypt’, Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, 43(5), pp. 1179–1223.

Lehmann, J. (2014) ‘Persecution, Concealment and the Limits of a Human Rights Approach in (European) Asylum Law: The Case of Germany v Y and Z in the Court of Justice of the European Union’, International Journal of Refugee Law, 26(1), pp. 65–81; https://doi.org/10.1093/ijrl/eeu006.

Lindkvist, L. (2017) Religious Freedom and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316671542.

Madera, A. (2022) ‘The intersection between refugees and religion: The challenge of assessing religiously based asylum claims in the European legal framework’, International Journal for Religious Freedom (IJRF), 15(1), pp. 121–139.

McDonald, K. P. A. (2022) ‘Why religious freedom matters for asylum seekers and refugees’, International Journal for Religious Freedom (IJRF), 15(1/2), pp. 39–52.

Miller, C. (2016) ‘Spiritual but Not Religious: Rethinking the Legal Definition of Religion’ Virginia Law Review, 102(3), pp. 833–894.

Mingot, E. S., de Arimatéia da Cruz, J. (2013) ‘The Asylum-migration Nexus: Can Motivations Shape the Concept of Coercion? The Sudanese Transit Case’, Journal of Third World Studies, 30(2), pp. 175–190.

Nowak, M. (2005) UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights: CCPR Commentary. Kehl: N.P. Engel.

OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) (2014) Guidelines on the Legal Personality of Religious or Belief Communities. Warsaw: Poland [Online]. Available at: https://www.osce.org/odihr/139046 (Accessed: 27 June 2023).

Rieder, L. (2022) ‘Assessing credibility in conversion-based asylum claims: Towards a better approach’, International Journal for Religious Freedom (IJRF), 15(1/2), pp. 141–157.

Rystad, G. (1992) ‘Immigration History and the Future of International Migration’, International Migration Review, 26(4), pp. 1168–1199; https://doi.org/10.1177/019791839202600405.

Santini, A., Spatti, M. (2020) ‘Migration and Religious Freedom: The Legislative and Judicial Framework at International and European Level’ in Zanfrini, L. (ed.) Migrants and Religion: Paths, Issues, and Lenses. Leiden, Boston: Brill, pp. 111–124; https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004429604_005.

Stinnet, N. (2005) ‘Defining Away Religious Freedom in Europe: How Four Democracies Get Away with Discriminating Against Minority Religions’, Boston College International and Comparative Law Review, 28(2), pp. 429–451.

UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) (1986) CCPR General Comment No. 15: The Position of Aliens Under the Covenant [Online]. Available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/45139acfc.html (Accessed: 24 July 2023).

UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) (1993) CCPR General Comment No. 22: Article 18 (Freedom of Thought, Conscience or Religion), CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.4 [Online]. Available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/453883fb22.html (Accessed: 30 June 2023).

UNHCR (2004) Guidelines on International Protection: Religion-Based Refugee Claims under Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, 2004,HCR/GIP/04/06

Wilson, B. C. (1998) ‘From the Lexical to the Polythetic: A Brief History of the Definition of Religion’ in Idinopulos, T. A., Wilson, B. C. (eds.) What is Religion? Brill: Leiden, pp. 141–162; https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004379046_012.