The refugee crisis and the right to political asylum

The right to asylum is an historic right stretching back to Ancient Egyptian, Hebrew civilizations, and the Greek city states that afforded protection against extradition and an inviolable place of refuge to criminals, and debtors from other countries. By the early Christian era, sanctuary was given to those fleeing from religious persecution, with refuge provided in a consecrated place, generally a church. Its expression in the twentieth century was developed by the United Nations in the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, and the 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees. Refugee law is anchored in an understanding of the history of population movements, the emerging framework of refugee protection, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and other international actors, and the political context of statelessness and displacement.