Refugee law, atheism and religious persecution

This chapter explores the relationship between non-religious people and refugee law. In the first part, attention is focused on the connection between human dignity and freedom of religion and belief, followed by an analysis of the legal definition of “religion” and the progressive inclusion of “non-theistic beliefs” in this concept. It will be argued that this inclusion is consistent with the supranational legal framework, which has progressively considered theism and non-theism an inseparable pair in the protection of religious freedom. After examining the concept of “religious persecution”, the final part of the chapter is devoted to analysing concrete cases of asylum claims by non-religious people.