Claims for Protection Based on Religion or Belief: Analysis and Proposed Conclusions

This paper is written in the context of the growing importance of religion-based claims, and with the recognition of the complicated historical and socio-political factors within which the claims arise. The approach to determining the key elements in a refugee adjudication – what is a religion, what constitutes persecution in the context of religious practice, when is the persecution “for reasons of” the individual’s religious beliefs – are less clear today than they were when 1951 Refugee Convention was drafted. This paper is intended to address the need for a contemporary review of religion-based claims, and the concomitant need for the development of a framework for refugee adjudicators.