Refugee concept and asylum law

Refugees are foreign nationals who are outside their home country or country of origin due to a well-founded fear of persecution on account of their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, gender or political opinion. This definition is based on the Geneva Refugee Convention. A precise definition can also be found in Art. 2 of the Asylum Act.

A well-founded fear of persecution exists if a threat to life, limb or freedom can be asserted and there is a threat of measures that cause unbearable psychological pressure. Gender-specific reasons for fleeing must be taken into account.

Anyone who is threatened or persecuted according to the above criteria is granted Asylum Division in Liechtenstein as part of an asylum procedure. As part of European asylum policy, the government can take over asylum seekers from another Dublin state to process their asylum application or grant asylum to refugees who have been recognized as refugees by another Dublin state(relocation). In addition, the government can grant asylum to persons who have been recognized as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and who are in a country of first refuge(resettlement).

Asylum seekers who are not granted Asylum Division in Liechtenstein, but for whom removal is not possible, not permitted or not reasonable, are granted temporary admission for a period of one year. Thereafter, the reason for temporary admission is reviewed again.

In principle, the so-callednon-refoulement principle applies. This means that no person may be forced in any way to leave the country in which

• their life, limb or freedom is endangered or there is a risk that they will be forced to leave the country; or
• they are subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading punishment or treatment or there is a risk that they will be forced to leave the country for such a country.

The Asylum Act also provides for temporary protection. Accordingly, persons in need of protection are persons who are granted temporary protection on the basis of a government decision for the duration of a serious general threat, in particular during a war or civil war and in situations of general violence. Temporary protection is regulated in Chapter IV of the Asylum Act.