Immigration Law, Co-Sponsored by Admiralty and Maritime Law and International Law

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The rise of the non-state persecutor is one of the most significant developments in refugee and asylum law in recent years. We see the impact of the non-state persecutor all around the world, with the rise of ISIS and other non-state militant movements in the Middle East, the proliferation of criminal gang and drug cartel attacks in Central America and Mexico, and the brutal spread of domestic violence everywhere. How has refugee and asylum law responded? How should the law respond? For example, is the traditional distinction between asylum seekers and internally displaced persons still relevant when our concepts of statehood are changing? When the persecutor is an abusive spouse or a neighborhood gang, are you a refugee or merely a migrant? And is the rise of asylum fatigue connected to the shifting identity of persecutors? This panel explores the impact of the non-state persecutor on refugee protection.