ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the human rights problems asylum seekers experience prior to leaving home, and considers the issues that arise during the process of seeking asylum. Asylum is the protection granted by a nation to people who have left their country of origin in order to escape persecution. The path to asylum involves multi-stage decision-making to avoid danger and reach safety. Granting asylum is a complex, quota-based legal process. Seeking asylum is an emotion-charged topic and there are varied viewpoints on the issue. On the one hand there are supporters, who are empathetic to those who must flee the dangers they face in their home regions even though voicing concern for those people can lead to political and social recriminations. On the other hand there are opponents, who raise red flags about the threats of illegal immigrants "stealing" domestic jobs, increasing crime rates, threatening economic security and national safety, and drowning the country's welfare, schooling, and housing systems.
