Asylum Law Training

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UNIT 1

INTRODUCTION TO ASYLUM LAW: Objective is for the reader to gain a basic understanding of core asylum law concepts. The target reader is a non-immigration practitioner who is unfamiliar with asylum law. The materials below provide broad overview of the entire asylum process. The presentations are quite long and the manuals are comprehensive. Some of the more complicated elements in the asylum definition will be covered again below in Units 2-5.

UNIT 2

PERSECUTION AND THE PERSECUTOR: The asylum standard requires a client to prove that the client is “unable to return… because of persecution OR a well-founded  fear of persecution.” This unit will discuss the types of harm that qualify as persecution. There is also a discussion of the persecutor i.e. the individual who has harmed or could harm the asylum applicant. The objective is to learn more about both legal concepts and how they affect eligibility for asylum.

UNIT 3

WELL FOUNDED FEAR: In order to win an asylum claim, the clients must prove they have a well founded fear of persecution. The well founded fear can arise because of a past experience of harm i.e. past persecution or because of a credible fear of future persecution. A well-founded fear must be subjectively genuine and objectively reasonable. The objective of this unit is to understand how to prove those two elements.

UNIT 4

ON ACCOUNT OF: Asylum case law requires that applicants prove that they fear persecution ‘on account’ a grounds protected by law. The five different protected grounds are covered below in Unit 5. In this unit, the objective is to learn more about the concept of ‘nexus’ and the burden of proof that asylum applicants have to prove that the harm that they fear is ‘on account of’ a protected grounds.

UNIT 5

PROTECTED GROUNDS: RACE, RELIGION, NATIONAL ORIGIN, POLITICAL OPINION, MEMBERSHIP IN A PARTICULAR SOCIAL GROUP: The objective of this unit is to gain a better understanding of the five protected grounds and how asylum claims work. This unit will discuss examples of several types of asylum claims regarding political opinion, religion and social group. This will help the reader understand how to tie all the concepts together by learning how to articulate the harm, identify the persecutor, and prove the nexus between the feared harm and the protected ground.

UNIT 6

ASYLUM PRACTICE: This unit will discuss some of the basics about how to develop a case and work with a client.

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