- the act of persecuting.
- the state of being persecuted.
- a program or campaign to exterminate, drive away, or subjugate a people because of their religion, race, or beliefs: the persecutions of Christians by the Romans.
Dictionary.com, http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/persecution?s=ts (accessed on April 27, 2012).
- The act or practice of persecuting on the basis of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or beliefs that differ from those of the persecutor.
- The condition of being persecuted.
The Free Dictionary, http://www.thefreedictionary.com/persecution (accessed on April 27, 2012).
- the act or practice of persecuting especially those who differ in origin, religion, or social outlook
- the condition of being persecuted, harassed, or annoyed
Merriam Webster, http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/persecution (accessed on May 1st, 2012).
Synonyms: abuse, oppression, discrimination against, mistreatment, ill-treatment, maltreatment
French translation: Persécution
“The definition of ‘refugee’ in Art 1A(2) of the Convention contains four key elements: (1) the applicant must be outside his or her country of nationality; (2) the applicant must fear ‘persecution’; (3) the applicant must fear such persecution ‘for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion’; and (4) the applicant must have a ‘well-founded’ fear of persecution for one of the Convention reasons.”
Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs v Guo (1997) 191 CLR 559 at 570, in International Refugee Consulting, Analytical Compilation of Australian Refugee Law Jurisprudence (Part I), February 2006.
“The 1951 Refugee Convention establishing UNHCR spells out that a refugee is someone who ‘owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable to, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country.’”
UNHCR, Flowing Across Borders, http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49c3646c125.html (accessed on 2 May, 2012).
“Persecution is normally related to action by the authorities of a country. It may also emanate from sections of the population that do not respect the standards established by the laws of the country concerned. A case in point may be religious intolerance, amounting to persecution, in a country
otherwise secular, but where sizeable fractions of the population do not respect the religious beliefs of their neighbors. Where serious discriminatory or other offensive acts are committed by the local populace, they can be considered as persecution if they are knowingly tolerated by the authorities, or if the authorities refuse, or prove unable, to offer effective protection.”
UNHCR Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, 1979, HCR/IP/4/Eng/REV.1
Reedited January 1992, Geneva, para. 64.
Maiani, Franceso, “The Concept of “Persecution” in Refugee Law: Indeterminacy, Context-sensitivity, and the Quest for a Principled Approach”, http://dossiersgrihl.revues.org/3896 (accessed 4 May, 2012).
European Council on Refugees and Exiles, ELENA Research Paper on Non-State Agents of Persecution, 1 September 2000
International Refugee Consulting, Analytical Compilation of Australian Refugee Law Jurisprudence (Part I), February 2006
UNHCR Handbook on Procedures and Criteria for Determining Refugee Status under the 1951 Convention and the 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees, 1979, HCR/IP/4/Eng/REV.1 Reedited January 1992, Geneva
AUSTRALIA
- NAGT of 2002 v MIMIA [2002] FCAFC 319
- SAAD v MIMIA [2003] FCAFC 65
- Selliah v MIMA [1999] FCA 615
- Suleiman v Minister for Immigration & Multicultural Affairs [2001] FCA 752
CANADA
- Canada (Attorney General) v. Ward, [1993] 2 S.C.R. 689
- Chan v. Canada (Minister of Employment and Immigration), [1995] 3 S.C.R. 593
- Németh v. Canada (Justice), 2010 SCC 56, [2010] 3 S.C.R. 281
- Suresh v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), 2002 SCC 1, [2002] 1 S.C.R. 3
EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
- Ahmed v. Austria (71/1995/577/663), 17 December 1996
- D. v. The United Kingdom (Case 146/1996/767/964), 2 May 1997
- H.L.R. v. France (11/1996/630/813), 29 April 1997
- Soering v UK, Application No. 00014038/88, 7 July 1989
- T.I. v U.K. (No. 43844/98), 7 March 2000