During this lesson, you will learn more about international protection as we understand it in the European Union (asylum and subsidiary protection). We will go through the definition of a refugee under the Geneva Convention. Please read UNHCR Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status, paras 44-100. 

The Handbook is available here: 

Also, look at this short video to learn more about international protection (covering the refugee status and subsidiary protection).

During the lesson, after short summary of the definition of refugee and the criteria for subsidiary protection, we will then go through a case study to find out whether a particular asylum seeker should be granted international protection. It would be great if you could bring a notebook for the lesson, as we will do an online search on the conditions in the country of origin of our asylum-seeker.

Homework before the lesson:

Before this class, please try to find out the following and write them in a short essay:

In your country, how many people seek asylum? (try to find national statistics or information about the approximate number of asylum-seekers)

Which are the most common countries of origin? Try to find out, from which of these countries people may fear persecution or other serious harm (e. g. risk of torture, risk of harm due to armed conflict, death penalty)

If you feel from the statistics that the system is unfair (or too favourable) for the asylum-seekers, write down your opinion on whether it should be more generous.

Please upload your essays here: