When fleeing persecution, violence, or disaster, asylum seekers face the daunting task of finding safety in a foreign land. While some nations offer robust protection systems, others present dangerous obstacles that compound the trauma of displacement. As someone who’s researched refugee conditions worldwide, I’ve seen firsthand how crucial it is to understand which destinations might pose additional risks for those seeking protection.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the nations that have been identified as particularly challenging for asylum seekers, examine the systemic issues that create these conditions, and discuss what international organizations are doing to address these problems.
What Makes a Country Challenging for Asylum Seekers?
Before diving into specific countries, it’s important to understand what factors contribute to poor asylum conditions:
- Inadequate legal frameworks for processing and protecting refugees
- Forced returns to dangerous countries of origin
- Detention policies that criminalize asylum seekers
- Limited access to healthcare, education, and employment
- Discrimination and xenophobia toward displaced people
- Overcrowded refugee camps with poor sanitation and safety concerns
- Corruption within the asylum system
- Violence directed at vulnerable populations
When these elements combine, they create environments where those seeking protection face secondary traumas instead of finding safety.
The Most Challenging Countries for Asylum Seekers
Transit Countries with Overwhelmed Systems
Mexico and Guatemala have become crucial transit countries for asylum seekers heading toward the United States. However, both face significant challenges in protecting those passing through:
In Mexico, asylum seekers often encounter:
- Overcrowded shelters along migration routes
- Risk of kidnapping by cartels targeting migrants
- Limited legal assistance for asylum claims
- Pressure to remain in Mexico under U.S. border policies
As one humanitarian worker told me, “Transit countries like Mexico weren’t designed to host large refugee populations long-term, and their systems are buckling under the pressure.”
Countries Practicing Forced Returns
Some nations actively return asylum seekers to dangerous situations, violating the principle of non-refoulement (the prohibition against returning refugees to countries where they face persecution):
Libya has been widely criticized for its treatment of migrants and asylum seekers attempting to cross the Mediterranean. Reports consistently document:
- Arbitrary detention in overcrowded facilities
- Torture and extortion of detainees
- Forced returns to countries of origin despite clear danger
- Collaboration with European countries to prevent sea crossings
Hungary has implemented policies that effectively prevent most asylum applications and facilitate rapid returns. Their approach includes:
- “Push-backs” at borders without due process
- Detention of asylum seekers in transit zones
- Legislative barriers making asylum claims nearly impossible
Detention-Heavy Approaches
Some countries rely heavily on detention as their primary response to asylum seekers:
Human rights organizations have widely criticized Australia’s offshore processing system. Asylum seekers arriving by boat are sent to processing centers in Nauru or Papua New Guinea where they face:
- Indefinite detention in remote locations
- Limited medical care despite serious health concerns
- Separation from family members
- High rates of mental health crises including self-harm
The United States immigration detention system holds tens of thousands of asylum seekers, including:
- Adults and children detained in prison-like conditions
- Limited access to legal representation
- Detention that can last months or years
- Facilities operated by private prison companies with problematic records
“Warehousing” Countries
The term “warehousing” refers to situations where refugees spend years or even decades in camps with no pathway to integration or resettlement. Countries where this occurs include:
Kenya’s Dadaab and Kakuma camps have housed hundreds of thousands of refugees, primarily from Somalia and South Sudan, for decades. Residents face:
- Restricted movement outside camps
- Limited economic opportunities
- Generational displacement (children born and raised in camps)
- Periodic threats of camp closure by the Kenyan government
Thailand hosts refugees from Myanmar in camps along the border where residents experience:
- Lack of legal status even after decades
- Restrictions on employment
- Limited educational opportunities
- Dependency on dwindling international aid
Why Do These Conditions Persist?
I’ve often wondered why some countries maintain policies that create such difficult conditions for asylum seekers. The reasons typically include:
- Political considerations: Anti-refugee sentiment can be politically advantageous
- Resource limitations: Developing countries may lack infrastructure to support refugees
- Security concerns: Some governments cite national security to justify restrictions
- Geographic factors: Countries positioned on major migration routes face disproportionate arrivals
- Deterrence strategies: Harsh conditions are sometimes intentionally created to discourage new arrivals
Unique Risks for Vulnerable Groups
Women Seeking Asylum
Women face particular challenges in countries with poor asylum systems:
- Heightened risk of sexual violence in camps and detention centers
- Insufficient gender-separated facilities and privacy
- Limited access to reproductive healthcare
- Higher likelihood of trafficking and exploitation
In countries like Greece, overcrowded camps on islands like Lesbos have been documented as particularly dangerous for women, with inadequate lighting, unsecured bathing facilities, and insufficient support for survivors of gender-based violence.
LGBTQ+ Asylum Seekers
LGBTQ+ individuals face compounded risks in many countries, including:
- Continued persecution within refugee communities
- Detention with individuals who may be hostile
- Officials who don’t understand or recognize LGBTQ+-based persecution claims
In countries like Egypt, Malaysia, and Indonesia, where same-sex relationships are criminalized or stigmatized, LGBTQ+ asylum seekers often face discrimination from both local populations and other refugees.
The Role of Corruption
Corruption significantly worsens conditions for asylum seekers in many regions:
- Bribes required for basic services or protection
- Officials extorting money for processing applications
- Police harassment and arbitrary detention to extract payments
Countries with high corruption indices generally correlate with poor treatment of asylum seekers. In places like Libya and certain Eastern European countries, asylum seekers report having to pay bribes at multiple stages of their journey.
The Impact of Refugee Camp Conditions
Living conditions in some refugee camps represent some of the most challenging circumstances for asylum seekers:
Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar camps, hosting Rohingya refugees from Myanmar, face:
- Extreme population density
- Vulnerability to monsoons and flooding
- Limited access to education
- Restrictions on movement and employment
Greece’s island hotspots like Moria (before it burned down) and its replacements have been characterized by:
- Facilities operating at multiple times their capacity
- Inadequate shelter during winter months
- Insufficient sanitation facilities
- Limited medical care despite prevalent health issues
In both situations, what were intended as temporary solutions have become long-term living arrangements with devastating psychological impacts.
Legal Barriers to Protection
Some countries create nearly insurmountable legal obstacles for asylum seekers:
Denmark has implemented increasingly restrictive policies, including:
- Designating parts of Syria as “safe” for returns despite ongoing conflict
- Confiscation of valuables from arriving asylum seekers
- Cuts to benefits for refugees
- A stated goal of “zero asylum seekers”
Poland and Belarus created a humanitarian crisis at their border where:
- Asylum seekers were pushed back and forth between countries
- People were trapped in forests without shelter during winter
- Access to legal assistance was blocked
- International aid organizations were prevented from providing help
How International Organizations Respond
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) works to improve conditions for asylum seekers in challenging countries through:
- Monitoring and reporting on conditions
- Providing direct assistance where permitted
- Advocating for policy changes
- Facilitating resettlement for the most vulnerable cases
However, these organizations often face limitations, including:
- Restricted access to detention facilities
- Dependency on host government permission
- Limited funding compared to needs
- Inability to enforce international refugee law
As one UNHCR worker told me, “We can only operate with the consent of governments. When that consent is limited, so is our ability to protect asylum seekers.”
Alternatives for Asylum Seekers in Difficult Situations
For those caught in unsafe or hostile countries, options may include:
- Seeking resettlement through UNHCR (though spots are extremely limited)
- Secondary movement to countries with better protection systems (though this carries risks)
- Advocacy and legal challenges with the help of NGOs
- Community-based protection within refugee communities
Organizations like the International Rescue Committee, Amnesty International, and local refugee advocacy groups often provide crucial support when official systems fail.
The Path Forward: Improving Asylum Systems
Despite these challenges, there are models for better approaches:
- Uganda’s self-reliance approach allows refugees to work and move freely
- Canada’s private sponsorship program engages communities in refugee support
- Portugal’s fast-track integration programs provide rapid access to services
These examples show that with political will, even countries with limited resources can implement more humane asylum systems.
What Travelers Should Know
If you’re traveling to regions with significant refugee populations, consider:
- Supporting local organizations that assist asylum seekers
- Understanding the context of refugee situations you might encounter
- Avoiding “poverty tourism” that exploits refugees’ situations
- Advocating for better policies in your home country
Conclusion: The Need for Shared Responsibility
The concentration of asylum seekers in certain countries—often those least equipped to protect them—points to a fundamental imbalance in the global refugee system. Until responsibility is more equitably shared among nations, certain countries will continue to present particularly challenging environments for those seeking protection.
For asylum seekers navigating these complex systems, accurate information is their most valuable resource. Organizations providing legal guidance, country condition reports, and support services play a crucial role in helping people avoid the most dangerous situations.
As global citizens, we have a responsibility to understand these challenges and advocate for systems that uphold the right to seek asylum with dignity and safety—regardless of which country a person approaches for protection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why are some countries unsafe or unsuitable for asylum seekers?
Countries become challenging for asylum seekers due to several factors, including inadequate legal frameworks, hostile policies designed to deter arrivals, limited resources for processing claims and supporting refugees, political environments that foster xenophobia, and geographic constraints that lead to overcrowding. Some nations intentionally create harsh conditions to discourage asylum seekers from staying or coming in the first place.
What challenges do asylum seekers face in countries with poor asylum systems?
In countries with inadequate asylum systems, refugees encounter prolonged detention in poor conditions, lack of legal assistance to navigate complex procedures, limited access to essential services like healthcare and education, risk of refoulement (being returned to danger), vulnerability to exploitation and abuse, employment restrictions that force dependency or irregular work, and social isolation due to discrimination.
How do policies in certain countries negatively affect refugees and asylum seekers?
Harmful policies include “pushback” operations that prevent people from applying for asylum, offshore processing that isolates asylum seekers in remote facilities, fast-track rejections without proper case consideration, restrictions on movement that effectively create detention-like conditions, family separation that compounds trauma, and limits on healthcare and education access that prevent integration and self-sufficiency.
Are there countries that forcibly return asylum seekers to dangerous situations?
Yes, despite international law prohibiting refoulement (returning refugees to danger), several countries have been documented forcing asylum seekers back to places where they face persecution. This occurs through direct deportations, pressure to “voluntarily” return, declaring countries of origin “safe” despite evidence to the contrary, and agreements with transit countries to prevent people from reaching places where they might receive protection.
What are the risks of seeking asylum in transit countries like Mexico or Guatemala?
Transit countries present unique challenges including limited capacity to process large numbers of asylum claims, vulnerability to criminal organizations that target migrants, insufficient infrastructure for temporary housing leading to dangerous living conditions, pressure from destination countries (like the U.S.) to prevent onward movement, and lack of integration opportunities for those forced to remain.
How do overcrowded refugee camps impact asylum seekers’ safety and wellbeing?
Overcrowded camps create conditions where safety and health are compromised through inadequate shelter that doesn’t protect from elements, insufficient sanitation facilities leading to disease spread, limited privacy that increases gender-based violence risk, competition for scarce resources creating tension between residents, and psychological impacts of prolonged uncertainty and confinement.
What role do corruption and lack of legal protections play in asylum seekers’ hardships?
Corruption significantly worsens conditions through bribes demanded for basic services or processing applications, arbitrary detention used for extortion, misappropriation of aid intended for refugees, and diminished rule of law that leaves asylum seekers without recourse when their rights are violated. Without robust legal protections, asylum seekers cannot effectively challenge mistreatment.
Which countries have been criticized for “warehousing” refugees for decades?
“Warehousing” occurs when refugees are kept in camps or restricted settlements for years or decades without durable solutions. Countries frequently criticized for this practice include Kenya (Dadaab and Kakuma camps), Thailand (Myanmar refugee camps along the border), Pakistan (Afghan refugee settlements), and Tanzania (camps hosting Burundian refugees), where multiple generations have now been born in displacement.
How do discrimination and xenophobia affect asylum seekers in certain countries?
Discrimination manifests as verbal and physical attacks targeting refugees, media portrayal that dehumanizes asylum seekers, political rhetoric blaming refugees for economic or social problems, housing discrimination that forces people into marginalized areas, employment exploitation due to precarious status, and psychological impacts from constant hostility and rejection.
What alternatives exist for asylum seekers stuck in unsafe or hostile countries?
Alternatives include applying for resettlement through UNHCR (though spots are extremely limited), seeking humanitarian visas to safer countries when available, establishing community-based protection networks within refugee populations, engaging with legal aid organizations to challenge rights violations, and in some cases, continuing onward movement despite the risks this entails.
