I spent most of my time with the Refugee Status Determination (RSD) unit, specifically on the Iraq sub-team. On this team, I drafted various case re-assessments for Iraqi asylum-seekers, applying international refugee law to determine whether these applicants should be considered refugees under international conventions. Due to the severity of the crisis in Iraq, almost all applicants had a “well-founded fear of persecution.” What was difficult (and the most interesting from a learning perspective), was the analysis needed to determine whether they were involved in any acts that would then exclude them from international protection (ex. crimes against humanity, war crimes). This meant I had the opportunity to engage in a little bit of international criminal law, which I didn’t realize I was interested in prior to the summer.
More at the source: blogs.harvard.edu | International Legal Studies
Ismailimail 