The legislative system of the Russian Federation in the area of asylum and refugee status

Abstract

The Russian law 'On Refugees' in terms of its principles and key provisions complies with the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees. Still, this general compliance has turned out to be insufficient for the institution of asylum to operate effectively in the Russian Federation. The unsettled nature of the procedure of determining refugee status and the lack of procedural guarantees for asylum-seekers creates the possibility for denials of granting asylum, on the grounds of political rationale. In the first place, this refers to refugees from the countries ? former USSR republics (Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan) as well as DPRK (North Korea) and PRC (China). Even in cases when the instance of persecution cannot be doubted, they are not granted refugee status but temporary asylum, although this institution by definition serves a different purpose, and granted protection is of considerable volume. Decisions about the denial to grant refugee status in many cases do not contain the motives of the denial or are limited to the reference to the fact that an asylum-seeker has left the place of residence for economic reasons. In the majority of cases the asylum-seeker is not provided with the negative decision as such, which makes it much more difficult to appeal against it. As regards the rights, especially social rights, of an individual granted refugee status, the lack of the mechanism of their realisation in legislation creates serious obstacles for refugee integration.