Delays And Other Inefficiencies In Asylum Processing And The Need For Normative Initiatives To Prevent Adverse Effects On The Basic Rights Of The Refugees

The right to seek asylum, despite being widely recognized as a fundamental human right in various international, regional and national human rights regimes cannot be effectively secured unless inefficiencies in asylum processing are sufficiently reprimanded. The paper aims to identify delays and other inefficiencies in asylum seeking and processing and examine the scope and limitations of relevant normative order governing refugees and national asylum granting mechanisms to determine how they seek to address any adverse impact. The paper demonstrates that the essence of the right to seek asylum is often diluted by the failure to promote efficient processing of asylum applications in national jurisdictions and to provide sufficient safeguards to the basic rights and interest of the asylum seekers during the pendency of their applications. The paper analyses the situation in some specific jurisdictions that have faced concerns of delay and determines causes and effects of the delay. The paper analyses the role of certain administrative and judicial avenues available for the aggrieved and assess how they resulted in relevant remedial measures. The paper examines the international regime and programs governing refugees to determine whether they create any positive obligations of expediency and timely asylum processing for the protection of the rights of the refugees. Based on the findings of the paper, the paper concludes with a call for the need to initiate internationally coordinated efforts to systematically monitor and assess the adverse effects of delay upon the basic human rights of the refugees and introduce relevant safeguards to ensure that the true spirit of refugee protection is upheld both in international regimes and national systems.