College of Law and Business

Portal on Rights of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in Israel – International, Comparative and Domestic Law Sources

The College of Law and Business has initiated a Legal Training workshop for international volunteers that have come to provide legal aid for refugees in Israel. The two-day workshop (Jan 1st and Jan 5th ) is intended to provide the participants with the basic tools that will improve their effectiveness and consequently provide adequate aid for more refugees. The workshop was initiated by the Legal Clinic for Immigrant's Rights headed by Attorney Yonatan Berman. Attorney Berman together with Dr. Tally Kritzman Amir, an expert in the field, will be leading the workshop that will touch upon general topics such as Refugee Rights and International Law and International Sources for the Protection of Refugees. It will also deal with specific local issues such as, Israel Human Rights Law and the Israeli Asylum Process.
Students attending the program come from Universities from North America, South America, Europe and Former Soviet Union. The orientation program which is the first of its kind in Israel is supported by UNHCR.

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The College of Law and Business
The Human Rights Program
in cooperation with
The Heinrich Boll Foundation
The Israeli Asylum System:Contemporary Challenges in Comparative European Context

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Refugee Law Resources

International Conventions:

International Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951

Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1967
http://www.unhcr.org/3b66c2aa10.html

Convention Against Torture and Other Forms of Cruel, Inhumane and Degrading Punishments

http://www.hrweb.org/legal/cat.html

Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons, 1954

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/stateless.htm

International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 1966

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/ccpr.htm

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/cescr.htm

Excom Conclusions

UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Thematic Compilation of Executive Committee Conclusions, January 2010,Fifth Edition http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/docid/4bace8f62.html

UNHCR Handbook

Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, HCR/IP/4/Eng/REV.1 Reedited, Geneva, January 1992, UNHCR 1979
http://www.unhcr.org/3d58e13b4.html

Israel Asylum Procedure

Israel - A Safe Haven? Anat Ben Dor & Rami Adut, 2003 (providing an overview of the former asylum process of Israel and the history thereof) http://www.tau.ac.il/law/clinics/english/Safe%20heaven.pdf
Otherness as the underlying principle of Israel’s asylum regime, Tally Kritzman-Amir, 42 Isr. L. Rev. 603 (2009)
New Issues in Refugee Research, Research paper 183, A promised Land for Refugees? Asylum and Migration in Israel (2009) http://www.ecoi.net/file_upload/1002_1261130955_il-unhcr.pdf
Responsibility Sharing and the Rights of Refugees: The Case of Israel, Tally Kritzman-Amir & Yonatan Berman, 41 Geo. Wash. Int’l L. Rev. 619 (2011) http://docs.law.gwu.edu/stdg/gwilr/PDFs/41-3/41-3-KRITZMANAMIR-BERMAN.pdf
Procedure for Handling Political Asylum Seekers in Israel (Effective January 2, 2011) http://www.piba.gov.il/Regulations/Procedure%20for%20Handling%20Political%20Asylum%20Seekers%20in%20Israel-en.pdf

Books:

The Rights of Refugees under International Law by James C. Hathaway
Law of Refugee Status: James C. Hathaway by James C. Hathaway
Reconceiving International Refugee Law (Nijhoff Law Specials, Nlsp 30.) (International Studies in Human Rights) by James Hathaway
The Refugee in International Law by Guy Goodwin-Gill and Jane McAdam
The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol: A Commentary (Oxford Commentaries on International Law) by Andreas Zimmermann The Refugees Convention, 1951: The Travaux Préparatoires Analysed (Cambridge International Documents Series) by Paul Weis
Complementary Protection in International Refugee Law (Oxford Monographs in International Law), Jane McAdam
International Refugee Law and Socio-Economic Rights: Refuge from Deprivation (Cambridge Studies in International and Comparative Law) by Michelle Foster
Law Of Asylum In The United States, 2011 ed. (Immigration Law Library) by Deborah E. Anker
Immigration and Refugee Law and Policy, 5th (University Casebooks) by Stephen H. Legomsky and Cristina M. Rodriguez
Refugee Law and Policy: A Comparative and International Approach (Law Casebook)
Refugees, Asylum Seekers and the Rule of Law: Comparative Perspectives by Susan Kneebone
Refugee Protection in International Law: UNHCR's Global Consultations on International Protection by Erika Feller, Volker Türk and Frances Nicholson

Tribunals in other countries:

Australia: Migration Review Tribunal http://www.mrt-rrt.gov.au/
Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board www.irb-cisr.gc.ca/Eng/Pages/index.aspx
UK: Immigration and Asylum Chamber http://www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/courts-and-tribunals/tribunals/immigration-and-asylum/first-tier/index.htm

Academic Journals:

Journal of refugee studies http://jrs.oxfordjournals.org/
International Journal of Refugee Law http://ijrl.oxfordjournals.org/
Refugee Survey Quarterly http://rsq.oxfordjournals.org/

Internet Websites:

Refworld: http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain
Ecoi-Net: http://www.ecoi.net
Refugee Case Law: http://www.refugeecaselaw.org/Home.aspx
Refugee Law Reader: http://www.en.refugeelawreader.org/images/syllabus/syllabus-2008-us-final-web.pdf

Non-Refoulement

בג"ץ 4702/94 אל טאי ואח' נגד שר הפנים ואח', פ"ד מט (3) 843. (on the significance of the non-refoulement obligation in Israeli law)
עת"מ 47692-07-11 ויליאם גוסף נגד משרד הפנים, פס"ד מיום 26.9.2011 (on the applicability of the non-refoulement principle that is outside the refugee convention in Israeli law) .
בג"ץ 7302/07 מוקד סיוע לעובדים זרים נגד שר הבטחון, פס"ד מיום 7.7.2011 (the court refuses to intervene on the question of the legality of Hot Returns on the Israeli-Egyptian border) .
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, 10 December 1984, 1465 U.N.T.S. 85, Art. 3.
Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 28 July 1951, 189 U.N.T.S. 150, Art. 33.
Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, 4 October 1967, 606 U.N.T.S. 267.
UNHCR EXCOM, ‘Non-refoulement’, Conclusion No. 6 (XXVIII), 1977.
UNHCR, ‘Note on International Protection’, 7 September 1994, paras. 14–15, 30–41.

Non-Discrimination

Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 28 July 1951, 189 U.N.T.S. 150, Art. 3.
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, 18 December 1979, 1249 U.N.T.S. 513.
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, 7 March 1966, 660 U.N.T.S. 195.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 16 December 1966, 999 U.N.T.S. 171, Art. 26.
Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, 1577 U.N.T.S. 3.
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 16 December 1966, 999 U.N.T.S. 171.
Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees, 4 October 1967, 606 U.N.T.S. 267.

Persecution

Independent Federal Asylum Senate, (IFAS/UBAS) [Austria], Decision of 21 March 2002, IFAS 220.268/0-X1/33/00 (Austrian administrative appellate decision concluding that female genital mutilation constitutes persecution).
Pitcherskaia v. INS, 118 F 3d 641 (9th Cir 1997) (US judicial decision holding that forced treatment in psychiatric institution without intent to punish can constitute persecution).
Korablina v. INS, 158 F 3d 1038 (9th Cir 1998) (US judicial decision finding that cumulative discrimination against Jewish woman in Ukraine constitutes persecution).

Agents of Persecution

UNHCR, ‘Position Paper on Agents of Persecution’, 14 March 1995.
Adan and Aitseguer, 23 July 1999 [1999] 3 WLR 1274 UK House of Lords
Regina v. Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte Adan; Regina v. Secretary of State for The Home Department ex parte Aitseguer, Judgments of 19 December 2000), [2001] 2 WLR 143. (UK judicial decision upholding asylum for applicants fearing persecution by non-state actors).

Particular Social Group & Gender

עת"מ (מרכז) 3415-05-10 הרננדז נגד משרד הפנים, פס"ד מיום 14.8.2011 (court grants status to a person whose PSG is family ).
עת"מ (מרכז) 11144-10-11 Osalonu Omowumu נגד משרד הפנים, פס"ד מיום 8.11.2011 (refraining to acknowledge gender as a PSG ).
עתמ (י-ם) 31600-03-11‏ ‏ צ'יקה קווין אוקפור נגד משרד הפנים, פס"ד מיום 19.9.2011 (adopting a narrow interpretation of the PSG)
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women

(CEDAW), 18 December 1979, 1249 U.N.T.S. 513.

UNHCR, ‘Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee

Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the
Status of Refugees’, HCR/IP/4/Rev.1, 1979, paras. 77–79.

Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women, UN General

Assembly Resolution, A/RES/48/104, 20 December 1993.

UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on International Protection: Gender-related Persecution

within the context of Art. 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or its 1967
Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees’, May 2002.

UNHCR, ‘“Sexual and Gender-Based Violence against Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons” – Guidelines for Prevention and Response’, May 2003.
UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on International Protection: The application of Article 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees to victims of trafficking and persons at risk of being trafficked’, 7 April, 2006.
UNHCR Guidance Note on Refugee Claims Relating to Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, 21 November 2008.
Secretary of State for the Home Department v. K; Fornah v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, (2006) UKHL 46 (House of Lords). (UK judicial decision holding that women in Sierra Leone facing female genital mutilation
experienced persecution based on their social group).
Moldova v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, (2008) UK AIT 00002, 26 November 2007 (UK Asylum and Immigration Tribunal). (UK administrative decision that ‘former victims of trafficking’ can constitute a social group).
R. v. Immigration Appeal Tribunal ex parte Shah; Islam v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, (1999) 2 AC 629. (UK judicial decision holding Pakistani women accused of adultery feared persecution based on their social group).
Matter of Acosta, 20 Immigration & Nationality Decisions 211 (BIA 1985). (US administrative decision concerning group sharing common immutable
characteristic).
Matter of Kasinga, 21 Immigration & Nationality Decisions 357 (BIA 1996). (US administrative decision recognizing as social group women who fear female genital mutilation).
Aguirre-Cervantes v. INS, 242 F 3d 1169 (9th Cir 2001). (US judicial decision granting asylum to a Mexican woman based on physical abuse by father).
Chen Shi Hai (an infant) v. The Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, (2002) 162 ALR 577. (Australian High Court holds child born in violation of the one-child policy faces persecution based on social group).

Political Opinion, Imputed Political Opinion

עת"מ (י-ם) 729-09-11 רחל ברהנה סלומון נגד משרד הפנים, פסק דין מיום 26.12.2011 (A relative of a member of the ELF political party is granted asylum in Israel mostly because the Ethiopian embassy delegate threatened her while she was in detention in Israel – a sur place case )
Bolanos-Hernandez v. INS, 767 F 2d 1277 (9th Cir 1984). (US judicial decision holding that neutrality in El Salvador can be a political opinion).
Ciric and Ciric v. Canada, 2FC 65 (1994). (Federal Court of Canada holding that refusal to serve in Serbian army in 1991 constituted protected political opinion).
Klinko v. Canada, 184 (2000) DLR 4th 14. (Federal Court of Appeal of Canada holds that public complaints about widespread corruption can constitute political opinion).

Burden of Proof

עת"מ (מרכז) 3415-05-10 הרננדז נגד משרד הפנים, פס"ד מיום 14.8.2011.
R. v. Secretary of State for the Home Department ex parte Sivakumaran, (1988) 1 All ER 193 (HL) (UK judicial decision analysing objective element).
INS v. Cardoza – Fonseca, 480 US 421 (1987) (US judicial decision stating that one in ten probability of harm can constitute well-founded fear).

Internal Protection Options

עת"מ (מרכז) 11144-10-11 Osalonu Omowumu נגד משרד הפנים, פס"ד מיום 8.11.2011. (court determines that domestic violence victims should exhaust IFA since they are only persecuted by one person – their husband ).
UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on International Protection: “Internal Flight or Relocation Alternative” within the Context of Art. 1A(2) of the 1951 Convention and/or 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees’, July 2003.
Januzi v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, Hamid, Gaafar, and Mohammed v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, [2006] UKHL 5, 15 February 2006 (House of Lords). (UK judicial decision determining that it was unduly harsh to expect applicants from Darfur to relocate elsewhere in Sudan, but not unduly harsh for Kosovar Albanian to be relocated elsewhere in Kosovo.).
The Michigan Guidelines on the Internal Protection Alternative’, April 1999.

Family Unity

עת"מ (י-ם) 8717/08 למה באיו ואח' נגד שר הפנים, פס"ד מיום 9.7.2009. (recognizing the right to family unity of a recognized refugee ).
עת"מ (ב"ש) 20871-06-11 מדינת ישראל נגד חנה מנגסטרב אסמורום, פס"ד מיום 17.7.2011. (recognizing the right to family unity of a temporarily protected person) .
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 16 December 1966, 999 U.N.T.S. 171, Arts 17, 23.
Convention on the Rights of the Child, 20 November 1989, 1577 U.N.T.S. 3.
UNHCR EXCOM, ‘Family Reunion’, Conclusion No. 9 (XXVIII), 1977.
UNHCR EXCOM, ‘Family Reunification’, Conclusion No. 24 (XXXII), 1981.
UN Human Rights Committee, ‘General Comment No. 19: The Family’ (1990), UN Doc. HRI/GEN/1/Rev.7, May 12, 2004, at 149, paras. 2, 5.
UNHCR, ‘UNHCR Guidelines on Reunification of Refugee Families’, July 1983.

Cessation of Protection

UNHCR EXCOM, ‘Cessation of Status’, Conclusion No. 69 (XLIII), 1992.
UNHCR, ‘The Cessation Clauses: Guidelines on their Application’, 1999.
UNHCR, ‘Note on Cessation Clauses’, 30 May 1997.
UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on International Protection: Cessation of Refugee Status under Art. 1C(5) and (6) of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees’, February 2003.
UNHCR, ‘Summary Conclusions: Cessation of Refugee Status, Expert Roundtable, Lisbon’, May 2001.
Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs v. Qaah of 2004, [2006] HCA 53, 15 November 2006 (Australia). (Australian judicial decision holding that government can expel Afghan granted temporary protection visa only if government establishes that the safe conditions in the country of origin are settled and durable).

Exclusion

UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on International Protection. Application of the Exclusion Clauses (Art. 1 F of the 1951 Convention)’, September 2003.
Mugesera v. Canada, [2005] 2 S.C.R. 100, 28 June 2005 (Supreme Court).(Canadian judicial decision ruling that ‘reasonable grounds to believe’ standard requires an objective basis with compelling and credible information for the belief).
K v. Secretary of State for the Home Department, [2004] 7 May 2004 (UK Immigrationa Asylum Tribunal). (characterising acts as ‘terrorist’ is not sufficient for exclusion based on acts contrary to the purposes of the UN).

First Country of Asylum

‘The Michigan Guidelines on Protection Elsewhere’, January 2007.
UK House of Lords Regina v. Secretary of State for the Home department ex parte Adan; Regina v. Secretary of State for e Home Department ex parte Aitseguer (Judgments of 19 December 2000) [2001] 2 WLR 143–169. (holding that Somali and Algerian asylum applicants could not be returned to France and Germany on safe third country grounds as both states do not grant protection to those in fear of non-state agent persecution).
ECtHR (GC) 21 January 2011, M.S.S. v. Belgium and Greece, Appl. No. 30696/09 (holding that an asylum seeker should not be transferred to Greece since there he will be subjected to detention and there is no guarantee his asylum application will be treated seriously.

Employment

בג"ץ 6312/10 קו לעובד נגד הממשלה, פסק דין מיום 16.1.2011. (the state declares that it will refrain from enforcing the prohibition on employment of asylum seekers with conditional release documents, and the court reaffirms this as a proportionate and balanced solution ).
עת"מ (מרכז) 31808-03-10 בילאל חיג'אב נגד מדינת ישראל, פס"ד מיום 2.12.2010 + עת"מ (מרכז) 35858-06-10 סייקו ואח' נגד משרד הפנים, פס"ד מיום 13.7.2010 (granting an employment permit in a disputed identity case, while making general statements on the fact that persons under temporary protection should be allowed to work ).

Detention

בג"ץ 212/08 מוקד סיוע לעובדים זרים נגד שירות בתי הסוהר (the court refrains from interfering in detention of minors in Ktziot ).
UNHCR, ‘Guidelines on Applicable Criteria and Standards relating to the Detention of Asylum Seekers’, February 1999.
UNHCR, ‘Detention of Asylum Seekers and Refugees: The Framework, the Problem and Recommended Practice’, June 1999.
Refugee Council New Zealand Inc., The Human Rights Foundation of Aotearoa New Zealand Inc., and ‘D’ v. Attorney General, M1881-AS01, 31 May 2002 (High Court of New Zealand). (NZ judicial decision limiting detention to rare cases
where necessary to prevent flight or commission of crime.)
C. v. Australia, HRC, Views of 28 October 2002, no. 900/1999,(lengthy detention causing mental illness is violation of Art. 9.)
Torres v. Finland, HRC, Views of 2 April 1990, no. 291/1988 (failure of state to provide alien in detention for more than five days a right of access to the court proceedings for judicial review of the lawfulness of his detention constitutes a violation of Art. 9.)
A. v. Australia, HRC, Views of 30 April 1997, no. 560/1993. (absence of individual consideration of reasons for detention of asylum seekers constitutes a violation of Art. 9.)

Palestinian Refugees

Michael Kagan & Anat Ben Dor, Nowhere to Run: Gay Palestinian Asylum Seekers in Israel (2008) http://www.law.tau.ac.il/heb/_Uploads/dbsAttachedFiles/NowheretoRun.pdf
Takkeberg L. The Status of Palestinian Refugees in International Law, Oxford, 1998.
UNHCR, ‘Note on the Applicability of Art. 1D of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees ro Palestinian Refugees’, October 2002.
UNHCR, ‘Revised Note on the Applicability of Art. 1D of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees ro Palestinian Refugees’, October 2009.

* This list was compiled based on a list prepared by Adv. Anat Ben Dor for the Judges training of October, 2011, and based on the recommended reading brought in the refugeelawreader.org website. For further reading, including regional instruments etc. see: http://www.en.refugeelawreader.org/images/syllabus/syllabus-2008-us-final-web.pdf

Presentations:

Rights of Refugees in International Law (Non-Refoulement and beyond) - Part 1

Rights of Refugees in International Law (Non-Refoulement and beyond) - Part 2

Israel's Immigration Regime

Country of Origin Information Research

The Definition of Refugee in International Law