When are refugees 'Unworthy' of admission?

When is a refugee 'unworthy'? The question had acquired heightened importance in the febrile atmosphere of post-9/11. New international law instruments have been drawn up to deal with the 'War on Terror'. Traditionally understood concepts of crimes against peace, war crimes, or crimes against humanity are in a state of flux. The law is worryingly moving towards a concept of 'unworthiness for asylum'. This lecture considers the latest international law position, with a reference to the case law of Australia, and asks whether refugee law as we have known it is now dead.

Dr Satvinder Singh Juss is a Professor of Law at King's College London, UK, a Barrister-at-Law of Gray's Inn, London, UK, and a former Human Rights Fellow at Harvard Law School, Massachusetts, US. Professor Juss is a human rights expert focusing on policy-oriented work. He contributed as a renowned expert at the invitation of the Home Affairs Committee to a pioneering seminar on Human Trafficking at the Houses of Parliament on 14th May 2009, which brought together the Chairs of all the Home Affairs Committees in Europe, in a new initiative to harmonize standards and procedures in this field. He was also Consultant in April 2009 to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in a program funded by the British Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, on issues of expulsion, re-admission and voluntary return of migrants. In 2010, he advised the Government of Bermuda on legislation.