Could COVID-19 Upend International Asylum Norms?

As the coronavirus pandemic drives unprecedented mobility restrictions within and across borders, there is a major risk that “states and international organisations will allow Covid-19-inspired emergency policies” to persist after the crisis, thereby endangering asylum seekers, refugees and others in need of international protection. Overall, as noted in an article in Lawfare, it is vital that Covid-19 does not serve “as a pretext to further weaken the limited rights and protection available to some of the world’s most vulnerable populations.”