Asylum Seekers
Recent Activity
Approximately 50,000 of Germany's 170,000 tolerated asylum seekers are expected to will qualify for a residency permit under a law passed in March 2007. MPI's Eric Leise reports.
Not long after the United States passed the 1980 Refugee Act, thousands of people began fleeing civil war in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Nicaragua. Their treatment in the United States, linked to U.S. foreign policy, spurred the Sanctuary Movement and efforts to grant them refugee status, as Susan Gzesh of the University of Chicago explains.
Over the past four years, the United States has resettled far fewer refugees than it did in the 1990s. The decline has stemmed partly from post-9/11 security measures. But this book explains other, deeper reasons, deriving from changes in how and why refugees move, how asylum states receive them, and the world community's response. It also suggests steps to restore the program and better address real refugee needs.
MPI Director Kathleen Newland provides an overview of the latest asylum numbers and insights as to why they are declining.
Bill Frelick of Amnesty International USA reports on why the United States' detention of asylum seekers concerns the human rights community.
MPI's Joanne van Selm analyzes the EU's latest effort to guarantee rights, protect refugees, and regulate migration flows and borders.