1. The Israeli Asylum System The Academic Center of Law and Business (Tel Aviv, Israel) November 2012 Michael Kagan University of Nevada, Las Vegas Boyd School of Law

2. TP in Israel, TP elsewhere IsraelUS, Europe  Blocked access to asylum  Limited/unclear social and economic rights  Expanding protection beyond the Convention  Coping with influx  Social and economic rights  Access to asylum procedure

3. US temporary protection BasisBenefits  Country designated by DHS  Specified period, may be extended  Based on armed conflict, natural disaster or emergency  Broader eligibility than asylum  No significant criminal record  Not deportable  May obtain employment authorization  May still apply for asylum or other immigration status

4. US “discretion” US “Deferred action”Israeli Temporary Protection  Justified by practicalities and politics, not law  Not a clear legal status  Benefits people who are otherwise ineligible for immigration status  Conditions somewhat arbitrary  Employment auth is discretionary  For groups that cannot be deported easily  No official recognition that the people are refugees  No clear right to work  Rhetorical use of negative labels (infiltrator, etc.)  Weak political basis  Cuts off access to formal asylum system

5. Previous examples in Israel: The enemy nationals doctrine The role of UNHCR “Law” in the rhetoric of asylum

6. The 88 percent: Eritreans & Sudanese (UNHCR Statistical Yearbook 2010) Global Recognition Rates  Eritreans: 76 percent  Sudanese: 42 percent

7. The Double Life  Acknowledgement that Eritreans and (some) Sudanese cannot be deported  Denial that those with TP are even asylum- seekers  Frequent citation to the low number of individual recognitions

8. Temporary protection in Israel channels those asylum-seekers who are most likely to win Convention refugee status away from a rights-based system, and toward a system dependent entirely on state discretion. What kind of system is emerging?