United States: Whether there are any prohibitions preventing Turks from making refugee claims; any documented cases of Kurds being accepted as refugees

The United States makes a distinction between an asylum and a refugee claim: in a 24 February 1995 telephone interview, a representative of the Office of International Affairs, United States INS, in Washington, DC, stated that a refugee claim is made by and refugee status is granted to an alien outside the US, whereas an asylum claim is made by and asylum status is granted to an alien within the US. There is no difference between a refugee claim and an asylum claim except the location of the applicant. The President of the US, however, places a yearly limit on the number of refugees who can be granted status, whereas the number of asylum seekers who can be granted status is limitless (USA19942.E 24 Feb. 1995).

According to Section 101 ("Definitions"), No. 42, of the 1997 edition of the US Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) of 1952 that reflects amendments through 2 December 1997, the definition of the term "refugee" is that of the 1951 Geneva Convention.

According to Section 208(a)(1) ("Asylum") of the INA,

Any alien who is physically present in the United States or who arrives in the United States (whether or not at a designated port of arrival and including an alien who is brought to the United States after having been interdicted in international or United States waters), irrespective of such alien's status, may apply for asylum in accordance with this section or, where applicable, section 235(b) [1225].

Please note that under Section 208(b)(2) on "Conditions for Granting Asylum: Exceptions," none of the grounds for denying asylum are based on nationality or ethnicity. Therefore, there appear to be no prohibitions listed in this Section that would prohibit Turks from making an asylum claim in the US.

No references to prohibitions for making a refugee claim based on nationality or citizenship could be found among the sources consulted by the Research Directorate. Immigration and asylum legislation of the United States can be consulted at the US Department of Justice/INS Internet Website at .

In a 14 January 1999 telephone interview, the director of the Resource Information Center of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) in Washington, DC, stated that statistics are kept only on the basis of the nationality of asylum applicants (USA31078.E 18 Jan. 1999). Therefore statistics cannot be provided on whether Kurds have been granted refugee status by the US.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the Research Directorate within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

References

Office of International Affairs, US Immigration and Naturalization Service, Washington, DC. 24 February 1995. Telephone interview with a representative.

Resource Information Center, Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), Washington, DC. 14 January 1999. Telephone interview with the Director.

United States of America. Immigration and Naturalization Service. . October 1997. Immigration and Nationality Act of 1952. Reflecting amendments through 2 December 1997. [Accessed 8 Apr. 1999]

Additional Sources Consulted

Electronic sources: Internet, IRB Databases.

Non-documentary sources:

Unsuccessful attempts to contact the INS, Washington, DC.