Migration of Asylum Seekers and the Freedom of Religion or Belief: The Dual Nature of Religious Freedom as a Challenge

Abstract

This study examines the international and European legal frameworks that protect the rights of asylum seekers who have fled their home countries because of religious persecution. Divided into four main sections, the paper begins by delving into the sources of international law that uphold religious freedom. The second section identifies the specific conditions under which refugee status can be granted based on religious persecution. In the subsequent section of the paper, the focus shifts to scrutinising whether acts of persecution encompass both the internal and external dimensions of religious freedom, as demonstrated through the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the European Court of Human Rights. Notwithstanding the practice of competent asylum authorities and national courts, which reject asylum applications under the assumption that protection should be limited to the internal dimension of religious freedom, this study advocates the need for a comprehensive examination of religion-based asylum claims, considering both dimensions of religious freedom. This stance is rooted in the hypothesis that the distinction between internal and external dimensions of religious freedom should have no practical value for the assessment of the persecution based on religious or belief affiliations or worldviews of asylum seekers.