Asylum Regimes and Their Impacts

Abstract

This chapter will examine recent changes and developments in asylum law and policy in Western countries, particularly the countries of the EU. It will be argued that these changes have often lead to increasing insecurity and vulnerability for asylum seekers as governments seek to limit the number of asylum seekers who reach their country, and also the number of those asylum seekers who are granted refugee status. Several recent reports have highlighted the impacts of these changes on the human rights of asylum seekers. These issues will be analysed in terms of the differential impacts of new policies and legislation on male and female asylum seekers. It will be argued that whilst the rights of all asylum seekers have been eroded by recent developments, there have been particular causes of vulnerability and insecurity for female asylum seekers in relation to the asylum determination process and also to the provisions for the reception and processing of asylum seekers. The chapter will examine, for example, the debates over the use of reception centres for asylum seekers and the way that the use of such centres can have a particular negative impact on female asylum applicants. It will also examine issues such as housing and welfare, as well as considering the legal and judicial processes for considering asylum claims.