HOW TO APPLY FOR ASYLUM - The Florence Project
HOW TO APPLY FOR ASYLUM - The Florence Project
HOW TO APPLY FOR ASYLUM - The Florence Project
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not have to return to your country. It is very important to tell the DHS or the Immigration Judge all of<br />
the details of what you suffered in the past!<br />
2. You were persecuted in the past for one of the five reasons listed above and will be seriously harmed for<br />
some other reason if you were returned. Here is an example: you were persecuted in the past because of<br />
your religion. Things have improved in your country and now people of your religion are no longer<br />
persecuted. But, you are afraid to return to your country because you will be seriously harmed for some<br />
other reason. You might be able to win asylum.<br />
Please note that you cannot obtain withholding of removal under INA section 241(b)(3) in either of these two<br />
ways. You could only possibly win asylum.<br />
• What if I left because I do not want to participate in the war<br />
First, it depends on why you do not want to participate. If you just don't want to do your military service or if<br />
you refused to join the army or the guerrillas because you want to stay with your family, and not because you<br />
are morally, religiously, or politically opposed to one side or the other, it is more difficult to win asylum. In<br />
other words, it is difficult to show that you will be persecuted because of your political opinion if you don't<br />
have a political opinion.<br />
It also depends on why you would be persecuted. If your refusing to do your military service leads the<br />
government or guerrillas to believe that you support the other side, or if they mistreat you because they<br />
consider you their enemy, it can be said that the government or guerrillas will persecute you because of your<br />
political opinion (or because they think you have a certain political opinion). But if, for example, members of<br />
government will detain or jail you as a punishment for not participating in your military service, and not<br />
because they think you support the guerrillas, you do not have the basis for a political asylum claim, because it<br />
has nothing to do with your own political opinion.<br />
One very common problem for people applying for asylum after refusing to participate in the war is that the<br />
judge may say that the harm they suffered is because the government wants to enforce the law, and not because<br />
it was persecuting people for their political opinions. You might be able to qualify for asylum, though, if you<br />
can show that you or other people in the same situation have been tortured, killed, or mistreated in a way not<br />
provided for by law, because that may show that you were or will be persecuted for political reasons and not<br />
just to enforce the law of your country.<br />
• Will I qualify for asylum or withholding if I came to improve my life and I am not in danger in my<br />
country<br />
If you came to the United States only because of lack of work or poverty, you will not qualify. But, if you<br />
came to the U.S. because you were poor and also because you are in danger of being mistreated in your<br />
country because of your political opinion, social group, race, nationality, or religion, you might qualify.<br />
• What if I fear mistreatment but for some other reason<br />
You cannot win asylum or withholding of removal under INA section 241(b)(3) unless you can show<br />
persecution because of one of the five reasons we explained. But if you are afraid of being tortured by an<br />
official in your country or if you can show your government would willingly allow you to be tortured, but you<br />
cannot prove that it is for one of the five reasons we explained, you may be able to get protection in the U.S.<br />
based on something called the “United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or<br />
Degrading Treatment or Punishment.” Keep reading this booklet for our discussion of how to apply for<br />
protection under the Convention Against Torture.<br />
Page 9 of 49<br />
FIRRP- last update June 2007