Article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states as follows: Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution. This article is especially crucial to offer refuge to the applicant who, fleeing persecution at home through violent attacks, wars, or oppression, will be saved from all harm.
One of the most important articles is Article 14; to enlighten its importance, I would give an example: Edward Snowden case. This happened in 2013 when Edward Snowden was a former contractor for the National Security Agency (NSA); he exposed government secret surveillance on persons in the United States and all around the world. For revealing these matters, he was charged with espionage and theft of government property; thus, he sought asylum to ensure that there was no prosecution by the United States government.
Snowden first took refuge in Hong Kong before he finally received temporary asylum in Russia, where he is also believed to stay till today. His case unleashed an international public debate on the right to privacy, policies on government surveillance, and the protected rights of whistleblowers. He exposed the ordeal that seekers of asylum had to face and revealed that though still perceived as the host country, it remained really a state obligated in international law. In this sense, Article 14 acted as a manifestation of the international obligation to protect individuals against persecution for their thought or conduct.
Written by: Nabeela Mohiud-din