The international protection of asylum seekers

When we think of those who have fled conflict, we can easily imagine men, women and children fleeing persecution or conflict situations caused by attack by regular or irregular armed groups, government or rebels. All of them have been stripped of their environment in a violent and heartbreaking way or cannot return to them due to the existing risk to their freedom or integrity. International law, from its origins, includes the obligation to give them asylum in a place where they can live away from immediate danger to their lives. However, the very complexity of the societies of the world in which we live and of the relations between States and the changes in the typology of conflicts, force us to reflect on the doctrinal and jurisprudential evolution that has occurred in the law of refugees in the last decades and claim the tools and resources necessary for its correct application.

The agencies, organizations and professionals who dedicate ourselves exclusively or in some of our facets to the protection of these refugees are obliged to do so, not only to be effective in our purposes, but to ensure that the Law prevails. In any case, we must not forget that granting asylum is not a matter of the political will of the rulers, but rather the application of the law. For this reason, this guide edited by the Foundation Abogacía Española In collaboration with UNHCR, it raises the challenge of adequate and necessary legal assistance for the international protection of refugees as a way to achieve this application of the Law.