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The Refugee Convention Essay

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A third concern entails the imposition of a time limit requiring “asylum seekers to file their claims within one year” of their arrival; notably, if it is not demonstrated “by clear and convincing evidence that” the claim was filed within the one-year deadline, the “claim for asylum will be rejected” (Asthana, 2011, p.37). Asthana (2011) refutes this practice, as “Article 33(1) of the Refugee Convention prohibits the return of a refugee to a country where […] life would be threatened on account of […] race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion” (p.38). Consequently, concerns are raised, as a strict “enforcement of the one-year time limit implies that an asylum claimant who would be capable of establishing all the requisite elements necessary to achieve asylum may nevertheless be denied protection” if they fail to meet the deadline (Asthana, 2011, p.38). Thus, the “result is contrary to article 33(1) as it threatens the refoulement of a genuine refugee” (Asthana, 2011, p.39). Consequently, the UNHCR has argued that an asylum request should not be “excluded from consideration” simply due to the “failure to meet a filing deadline” (Settlage, 2012, p.159). Due to the “exceedingly complex” process, this practice is concerning as “[t]here are no exceptions for missing this deadline”; in fact, even “the failure to include information required on the application, or any errors or inconsistencies in the application, […] can be fatal to

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