The United Kingdom’s acceptance of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) refugees has been heralded as a progressive shift in asylum law. Indeed, the scope for the protection of sexual minorities under the Refugee Convention has expanded. The interpretation of the Convention definition of refugee in Article 1A(2) has been continuously adapted, especially the “particular social group” (PSG) category as well as the recognised scope of “well-founded fear of being persecuted.” This thesis interrogates how “gay” refugees have been accepted under the Convention. The analysis considers the ways judicial decision-making has constructed the PSG and persecution of sexual minority asylum seekers. The sample consists of 22 appeals from 1999-2011 which were identified as major legal developments, beginning with the first significant recognition of “homosexual” refugees. Several additional tribunal determinations and key international cases are also considered. A socio-legal approach is taken to study the tensions between fluid sociological images of gender and sexuality and the fixed notions of identity found in the law (whether arising from individual cases, formal practice, or state imperatives). Through an examination of the legal discourse in the texts examined, the research deconstructs the jurisprudential debates in order to assess their impact on sexual minorities seeking asylum. This contextual, rather than doctrinal, approach reveals how the jurisprudence often obscures sociologically problematic assumptions made by adjudicators. This analysis offers an original contribution, concluding that UK protection is grounded on the assumption that sexual and gender identity are “immutable.” Far from opening the UK to persecuted sexual minorities, the prevalence of this assumption significantly narrows the apparently “inclusive” construct of the refugee. Building on the findings, the thesis proposes that adjudication should focus on the persecutory intent to suppress non-conforming acts and identities (or norm deviance) in order to identify sexual minority refugees rather than the categories of LGBT. Additionally, framing determination in the terms of relational autonomy develops a better understanding of the conditions necessary to realise a non-conforming sexual and gendered life free of persecution. The concept of norm deviance decentres the assumption of a knowable truth of identity, and relational autonomy asserts that the deprivation of self-determination and rights to relate may constitute a well-founded fear of persecution.

Student Number : 0413400A - MA research report - School of Social Science - Faculty of Humanities / Refugees and asylum seekers are vulnerable group that requires both national and international protection in South Africa. It is the duty and responsibility of the South African government and international community to provide adequate protection to individuals who are compelled to flee their countries of origin due to well-founded fears of persecution or other life threatening problems. Such protection must meet internationally recognized and acceptable standards for the protection and treatment of refugees and asylum seekers, as outlined in various international law and conventions. South Africa has pledged through her democratic Constitution and the Refugee Act of 1998 to protect and promote the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in her territory. The research explores how South Africa has responded to the protection of the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in the post-apartheid era. The research also explicates the relationship between human rights and refugee protection and how human rights have been used to facilitate the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in South Africa. The thesis identifies the extent of compliance with the international refugee law, which South Africa has achieved within the first decade of democracy and the roles played by nonstate actors and other stakeholders in refugee protection in South Africa. It also explores the major problems and obstacles militating against the realisation and in pursuit of the rights of refugees and asylum seekers in the post-apartheid South Africa. Finally, the findings of this research are expected to contribute to our understanding of the problems facing refugees, the government and international community, and the range of options and interventions open to policy makers in the field which will help to secure such rights.

Thesis (Ph.D. in Nursing) -- University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center, 2005. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 165-174). Free to UCDHSC affiliates. Online version available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations;

Domestic, not foreign affairs drove Soviet policy on Jewish emigration during the period of 1968-1989. This study challenges the prevailing view that fluctuating levels of exit from the USSR were correlated to the climate of relations between the USA and the USSR. The analysis also considers Soviet-German emigration for comparative perspective. Extensive historical background, with special emphasis on Soviet nationality policy is provided.