Summary
WiRL PUBLIC SEMINAR SERIES 2023/24
Seminar Two: Coming in from the Cold?
Group-based Refugee Determination for Women at Risk of Gender-based Violence
This was the second in a series of free online seminars hosted by the Women in Refugee Law (WiRL) network on the 2023/24 theme of “Refuge in a cold climate: the impact on women”. This series draws on WiRL’s global membership to apply a gendered lens in analysing the impact of increasing hostility to refugees in different states and contexts.
Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Switzerland are systematically awarding refugee protection to Afghan women and girls, and UNHCR have endorsed this approach. Claims from some nationalities are being fast-tracked in the UK. Is this a new trend that advocates should welcome? How does national, regional and international law address group-based refugee protection? Should refugee status determination procedures be adapted to ensure group-based protection, or are individual assessments capable of incorporating group protection? What adaptations of the asylum procedure might be useful in streamlining group-based refugee protection (e.g.: fast-tracked decisions, questionnaires replacing interviews) and what are the risks? What are the wider implications (for non-gender-related asylum claims) of these recent developments? This panel will discuss recent developments regarding the grant of international protection to women at risk of gender-based violence, including Afghan women, on a group basis. It will identify the promise and pitfalls of group-based determination based on protected characteristics, such as sex and nationality.
Panellists included:
DALLAL STEVENS (CHAIR)
Professor of Law, University of Warwick.
ANNA MURPHY HØGENHAUG (SPEAKER)
Postdoc at Centre for AI Ethics, Law, and Policy, Aalborg University, Copenhagen: to discuss recent developments in Scandinavian countries and impact on recent regressive approaches to refugee protection.
CHRISTEL QUERTON (SPEAKER)
Wallscourt Fellow in Law and WiRL co-convener, University of the West of England (UWE) Bristol: to discuss recent Court of Justice of the European Union case law on refugee protection for refugee women as a group.
Christel’s presentation slides.
VERONICA MONTAGNESE (SPEAKER)
Country Guidance Officer (Afghanistan), European Union Agency for Asylum (EUAA): to discuss EUAA Country Guidance in relation to Afghan women and girls and its impact across the EU.
Veronica’s presentation slides.
You can find the agenda here.
