Revisiting Persecution due to Socio-Economic Deprivation: a Reading of the Refugee Definition in light of the CRPD

Sammanfattning: The discussion of what the notion of ‘persecution’ entails seems to be evergreen during a time when people are more and more on the move fleeing deprivation of socioeconomic rights. A ‘human rights approach’ to the refugee definition, namely an interpretation by reference to human rights standards, is now endorsed in relevant scholarship. This thesis explores how the disability-specific standards deriving from the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) can flesh out this approach. In doing so, it navigates through the theoretical underpinnings of the ‘human rights approach’ to the refugee definition in order to frame a nuanced disability-specific understanding of ‘persecution’ that bears the prohibition of discrimination at its core. The thesis examines thoroughly the main features of the CRPD, which center around the prohibition of discrimination, and focuses on their implications towards the assessment of the impact of socio-economic deprivation specifically to persons with disabilities. The conclusions drawn constitute a systematic human rights approach to the refugee definition that frames a disability-specific understanding of its constituent elements. Ultimately, the thesis proposes that in order for the Refugee Convention to fulfil its objective, the assessment of ‘persecution’ that results from socio-economic deprivation, as well as other elements of the refugee definition, need to be conducted in a disability-sensitive fashion in the case of applicants with disabilities.