Securing a durable right to asylum: comparing access to protection under the european and inter-american systems

• Author: Jason Zubata
• Position: Recent graduate of The George Washington University Law School, where he received a J.D. with honors and a concentration in international and comparative law
• Pages: 169-181

SECURING A DURABLE RIGHT TO ASYLUM:

COMPARING ACCESS TO PROTECTION UNDER

THE EUROPEAN AND INTER-AMERICAN

SYSTEMS

JASON ZUBATA*

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION ..................................... 169

II. BACKGROUND . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170

A. The European Regional System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 172

B. The Inter-American System....................... 176

III. ANALYSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

IV. RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 180

I. INTRODUCTION

Countless crises and conflicts worldwide have forced more individuals to

flee their home countries than in the last 25 years.

1

See António Guterres, EU Stakeholders Conference: “An open and safe Europe - what next?”;

Statement by António Guterres, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, U.N. HIGH COMM’R

FOR REFUGEES (Jan. 29, 2014), https://perma.cc/X3JB-A8BV; see also Displacement in Central America,

U.N. HIGH COMM’R FOR REFUGEES, https://perma.cc/B4XC-NT3V (last visited Mar. 4, 2022) (“Growing

numbers of people in Central America are being forced to leave their homes.”).

In particular, the Syrian

conflict and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have triggered devastating hu-

manitarian crises, leading to millions of refugees being displaced and leaving

even more in need of humanitarian assistance.

2

See Marianna Fotaki, A Crisis of Humanitarianism: Refugees at the Gates of Europe, 8 INT’L J. OF

HEALTH POL’Y & MGMT. 321, 321–23 (2019); Helen Regan, Paul P. Murphy & Tim Lister, One Million

Refugees Flee Ukraine as Russia Escalates Bombardment of Key Cities, CNN, https://perma.cc/GAJ2-

R3JD (last updated Mar. 4, 2022); see also ADEMOLA ABASS & FRANCESCA IPPOLITO, REGIONAL

Similarly, the military and

* Mr. Zubata is a recent graduate of The George Washington University Law School, where he

received a J.D. with honors and a concentration in international and comparative law. He had previously

received his B.A., summa cum laude, in Justice & Law and Psychology, with a concentration in criminol-

ogy. He is currently an Attorney General Honors Attorney at the Department of Justice, Ofce of

Immigration Litigation. © Jason Zubata.

1.

2.

169