The US proposal would also increase the chasm between Global North and Global South countries, as middle- and low-income countries in the Global South continue carrying most of the responsibility for the world’s refugees.

Beyond the "common sense" talk, the US proposal would severely curtail the ability of refugees to seek protection. It would have a particularly detrimental impact on poor and racialised people from the Global South, who travel by land and would be blocked in regions with poor protection systems

Refugees and asylum seekers often need to continue their journey because the country of their first entry is not safe. For example: both Iran and Pakistan (neighbouring countries) are currently returning Afghans to Afghanistan, including women and girls at risk of gender persecution

The only truly new point is requiring asylum seekers to seek asylum in the first country of entry. Although most refugees and asylum seekers already stay in the country of first entry (mainly in middle- and low- income countries in the Global South) this is not currently an obligation

The 5 points of the US proposal:
1. States have a “right” to control their borders.
2. Asylum seekers to seek asylum in first country of entry.
3. Asylum is a temporary status.
4. States decide whether conditions allow returns.
5. States to receive back their own nationals.

Would the plan really "reshape the global approach to asylum"? No. It would reinforce and amplify a decade-long trend: Global North countries refusing their fair share of the responsibility for the world's refugees, and shifting that responsibility on low- and middle- income Global South countries.

Fact-check 2: Asylum is not meant to be permanent. Most asylum systems already include procedures for the host country to regularly check whether conditions in the country of origin have changed.

Fact-check 1: The vast majority of refugees and asylum-seekers worldwide stay in the first country they enter. According to UNHCR, 67% live in countries neighbouring their countries of origin; and 73% are hosted in low- and middle-income countries
www.unhcr.org/uk/about-unh...

According to Reuters, the plan would call for
1. Requiring asylum seekers to claim protection in the first country they enter
2. Making asylum temporary
The ambition would be to "reshape the global approach to asylum"