Asylum Seekers, Good Faith and the State

The author considers the nature of the obligation of asylum seekers to be truthful in their dealings with potential asylum states when making claims for asylum. The obligation is considered against the backdrop of the legitimate interest of the state to restrict access of aliens to its territory, juxtaposed with the right of asylum seekers to seek a haven elsewhere, in light of sometimes very strong fear or pressure on them arising from the situation they have fled. The author concludes that refugee law and practice are at loggerheads: insufficient account is taken of the dilemma of states, which have clear obligations under refugee law towards asylum seekers but which have little or no means to address the dilemma of how to deal with asylum seekers who make dishonest claims to asylum.