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Asylum Access Realizing Refugee Rights in Africa, Asia & Latin America |
Refugee Status Determination (RSD) is the doorway to the protection and assistance that the international community is legally required to provide to refugees. Although most Western countries conduct their own RSD proceedings, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) conducts RSD proceedings throughout most of the global south. Because the UNHCR proceedings are often the last word on who receives refugee status, Asylum Access advocates for an RSD process that is fair, transparent, and accountable.
UNHCR-RSD in its current form fails to meet UNHCR"s own standards for fairness and due process. Asylum Access takes issue with certain shortcomings in the implementation of RSD, including:
- The use of secret evidence against asylum-seekers in RSD proceedings
- The absence of judicial opinions outlining reasons for refusals of refugee status
- The absence of an appeal system for refusals
- Failure to provide qualified interpreters
Asylum Access urges UNHCR to take the following steps to improve RSD proceedings:
- Require all UNHCR field offices to adhere to all provisions of the 2005 Procedural Standards for Refugee Status Determination under UNHCR"s Mandate, including issuing specific, individualized reasons for rejection.
- Revise the sections of the Procedural Standards dealing with the withholding of evidence, in order to bring them into compliance with the advice that UNHCR gave to the Council of Europe in January 2003 and March 2005.
- Set a rapid timetable and a plan of action to establish an RSD appeals mechanism that is institutionally independent from the body who makes the initial decisions.
The implementation of such changes will lead to a fair, transparent, and accountable RSD process within the current UNHCR infrastructure.
See how Asylum Access continues to take action to create a fair, transparent, and accountable UNHCR-RSD process: