Refugees Themselves: The Asylum Case for Parents of Children at Risk of Female Genital Mutilation

This article deals with parents who arrive in the U.S. claiming refugee status on the basis of fears of female genital mutilation (FGM) of their daughters. While a woman who fears FGM herself may likely qualify for asylum, the legal status of the parents seeking asylum on this basis has not been treated consistently by the courts. At the root of this inconsistency is the reliance by some U.S. courts on the fact derivative status is only offered to spouses and children of asylees, not the parents. Observers have called for an amendment in the case of parents who fear FGM for their daughters. The article points out that if decisions were made in accordance with the 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, parents would be granted asylum. It calls for the U.S. to consistently decide these cases correctly, as is done in other Commonwealth countries, like Canada, the UK and Australia.

Melanie A Conroy, Refugees Themselves: The Asylum Case for Parents of Children at Risk of Female Genital Mutilation (2008) 22:1 Harv Hum Rts J 109.