Recognizing grave socio-economic rights abuses as valid refugee claims under international refugee law

This paper is one of the main requirements to fulfill my LL.M. degree from the American University in Cairo. Pursuing my master’s degree at the AUC has been a life-changing experience. The wonderful team of professors in the Law Department have deeply inspired me and I feel that here is a chance to express my gratitude to each one of them. Professor Jason Beckett, my thesis supervisor, I was lucky to meet in my first semester in 2017 in the Jurisprudence course. I want to make a confession here, at the beginning of the course, I was shocked by his critical view of law. It was the first time for me to start questioning the validity of law, how law is violent, and how it has been constructed it a way that serves the rich in authority. I will indebted to him for my entire life. I would like also to express my gratefulness to Professor Hani El-Sayed the Chair of the Law Department, professors Thomas Skouteris, Mai Taha, Hedayat Heikal and Tarek Badawy from the Center for Migration and Refugee Studies for all of their efforts to shape the person I am now proud to be. Special thanks to my dearest professor, Diana Van Bogaert, without her presence and guidance I could not have achieved any of this. She has been my mentor during this long journey of my master’s degree. I am wholeheartedly indebted to my family, especially my mother who has given me an example of how independent and strong women can be. She is a true inspiration and a role model. I would like to thank also my father, my brother Khaled and my sister Nourhan for their continuous support which has encouraged me to go forward with my studies. As being considered as part of my family, I would like to thank my dearest friend Kheloud Ali for her guidance and support from the first day of this long journey. I will be forever indebted to her. Lastly, I would like to show my gratitude to my fellow colleagues and friends in the Law Department Mohamed Diaa, Ali Moussa, Moataz Eidarous and Eslam Dakroury whose comments and advice have been very inspiring to me. I would like also to thank my fellow colleagues at the UNHCR who gave me love and support. Working with them has been the main reason behind my passion towards refugee law. I will always be indebted to them. Finally, I would like to express my gratefulness to my direct supervisors Attorney General Ahmed Wagih and Chief Prosecutor Abdelmegeed El-Sherif for their continuous support and motivation.