Where Disability and Displacement Intersect: Asylum Seekers and Refugees with Disabilities

This article addresses a relatively new area of interest for refugee scholars: the effect on refugee law and policy of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The article explains the paradigm shifts that this Convention represents for persons with disabilities who find themselves displaced by war or persecution. It focuses on the two broad areas of most concern to refugee advocates and adjudicators working with persons with disabilities seeking protection as refugees: status determination processes and the interpretation of the definition of refugee. It considers the threshold legal question of whether the obligations enshrined in the Disabilities Convention are owed in respect of refugees - and thus whether they are relevant to refugee status determinations. The issues surrounding the determination of refugee status at a procedural level are examined, outlining the implications that the Disabilities Convention has for decision makers charged with adjudicating asylum claims. Finally, the article looks at the Refugee Convention to consider how disability can affect a person's ability to qualify for protection under that instrument.