In my paper I will explore questions related to the rights of asylum seekers by looking into the debates on the creation of the post World War II human rights regime. While adopting a more historical perspective, and while doing this by discussing the political choices and disputes behind the creation of the article 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) (‘Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution’) as well as making references to the creation of the Convention relating to Status of Refugees (1951), the underlying idea is that understanding the roots of these documents is essential also when exploring the controversies related to the concepts in the more present day discussions and debates. Furthermore, by focusing on the political deliberations and disputes, the reading emphasizes the contingent character of rights. Finally, when approaching the asylum right problematics in the post World War II context, I will, as a point of conceptualization, make references to the writings of contemporary political and legal thinkers. Apart from having a background in political theory, the paper benefits from a conceptual historical perspective as well as it uses rhetoric as a tool for analysis.
